Bangkok - Day 2

I woke up from my beautiful Bangkok dream, had breakfast in the hotel and left to Chatuchak Weekend market around 9.30am. This is a famous open flea market in Bangkok and it is only opened during the weekends. It is such a massive market that legend has it that if you spend 2 minutes at each of its stalls, it will take you at least 2 months to finish them all. Breath stopping right!

We had a floor plan of the entire market but once there, you just had to walk in one direction or another, it was just too vast to start at one end and finish at the other. Chatuchak was indeed a feast for the eyes and stomach, he he he. There was everything possible sold in it - pets (fish, squirells, bees, fighter cocks, reptiles etc), food, clothes, undies, handicrafts, ceramics, gardenings plants and pots, food of every kind- it can go on and on.

We spent close to 3 hours wondering around. We shopped a bit. I bought some fantastics pictures of Buddha (I even captured a picture here). When our legs could not walk anymore, we found a shady eatery and had some aunthentic Thai cuisine.

We returned to the hotel in the afternoon and had a much deserving Thai oil massage. I wanted to capture some pictures of us having the massage but Sam forbade me. She was shocked that I will even think about it. She absolutely don't want any of our semi-naked massage pictures appearing anywhere.

We napped a bit after that and headed to Riverside Bangkok Hotel for our dinner cruise. We arrived around 7.30pm and headed towards the pier at the back of the hotel and boarded our ferry. It was already bustling with people and as we headed towards the upper deck and was shown to our place, I had a view of the various food on the menu. I ordered steamed white rice and chicken fried with cashew nut and had sticky mango rice for desert. It was quite something to have a dinner on top of a ferry with the wind blowing gently and a merry crowd around you.

Just after 8.30pm, the ferry slowly started its cruise down the great Chao Phraya River. The sceneries on both sides of the river was breath taking. The sight of the Grand Palace and Wat Arun, majestically lit was beautiful indeed. The cruise lasted 2 hours and we were ready for bed and dream when we arrived back at our hotel, just after midnight.

Bangkok - Day 1

Wooooooooooooooooohhhhhh Yeeeeeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh !!!

I am finally in Bangkok. The new Suvarnabhumi (pronounced as su-va-na-bhum) airport is impressive, much like a caterpillar. Giant Thai figures greeted passengers at every corner. We got a cab and headed to Bangkok Palace, no not the King's residence but our home for the next 4 days. It was then that we realised that we should have printed out the hotel name and address in Thai, as it was hard to communicate in English to the cab drivers. Sucks! We have to hassle through this over and over as cab is going to be our mode of transportation in Bangkok.

The hotel, much to our delight, was strategically located. It was surrounded by roads (and therefore easier to get cabs), street hawkers, tour agencies, convenient stores (7-Eleven, international call shops, massage parlours etc). As we arrived early, we took a walk around the hotel. A few tour operators were checked out, price compared and finally we settled for a half day temple tour on Monday and another half day floating market tour on Tuesday. We decided to arrange the rest of the itinary ourselves. Our slow walk brought us to a small shopping mall and to our first meal in Bangkok. We ordered 2 types of Thai fried rice but it turned out to be a dissapointing meal. We decided then to ignore the big restaurants and venture to street food instead. As we were walking back to the hotel, we chanced upon a fruit seller. He had this apple-like fruit, except this one was much bigger and didn't brown even after skinned. I got that one and oh my, it was crunchy, juicy and nectarine - a true tropical fruit.

After checking in, we napped - after all this was supposed to be a de-stressing break. Around 5pm, we headed to Khao San. Khao San is a long stretch of road, lined with bars, restaurants, internet cafes, knick knack shops etc. The pictures will tell the rest. We feasted on street noodles and BBQ pork. These were so so so much better than our lunch. We then settled to a cafe and had some drinks, while people watching and planned the rest of our itinary.

Our first day in Bangkok - eye opener and 'food-fully' satisfying.

Bangkok Babe

Yup, that's right! I am off to Bangkok, Thailand tomorow and will be back to work next Thursday. Will be writing about my journey here. Till then, cheow and cheers !!!

Mind - Manthras

I had the good fortune to attend a workshop by Dr. Kadeer Ibrahim yesterday night. Dr. Kadeer is a reknowned psychologist and motivation speaker in Malaysia. His ability to converse fluently in Tamil has made him very popular among the Indian community, especially those who miss out on such events due to the mode of delivery, which most often will be in English. He also makes his speeches applicable to all, regardless of race and religion. And I said fortunate because these kind of events are held all the time, it is just that we don't have an opportunity to attend them, for some reasons we just can find ourseves there- time, prior commitments, money etc.

I will in a simple manner scribble some of the thoughts shared during this session

'Mind-Manthras':

- It is very simply 'You become what you THINK'.

- THOUGHTS are like records, permanently embedded in our sub-concious mind. Therefore, we have to be careful on what we send in there, as only the thoughts in the sub-concious mind are manifested into actions/results/benefits.

- Unfortunately, only 2% of our throughts (derived from our senses - reading, seeing, writing, drawing, smelling etc.) pass through the various 'road blocks' into the SUB-CONCIOUS MIND.

- To remove the road blocks, one needs to (a) UNDERSTAND the meaning of one's thoughts/prayers (b) FEEL the thoughts/prayers (c) REPEATE the thoughts/prayers. It is like listening to your fave music, you are only able to realise the joy of the song when you appreciate the music and understand the lyrics, engross yourself in the feel of the music and lastly after listening for a couple of times, you will be able to sing along, the lyrics are recorded in your mind.

- In this way, you are able to transform your thoughts/prayers into visible results. Knowledge (meer taughts) become WISDOM (living with the knowledge).

You can also glance through the following to make your life happier:

- Don't turn SMALL problems into BIG problems.

- Make your mind and heart to listen to you. You can't be the king of the world but can definitely be the LORD of your senses.

- We are our worst enemy. Take it easy on yourself. Be a FRIEND to yourself.

- ACCEPT things that has happened. Don't question over and over again why it happened, why it happened to you and not someone else etc. Learn and plan for the future.

- FORGET and FORGIVE. Move on.

- OVER EXPECTATIONS lead to dissapointments.

- Don't focus on the problems, focus on the SOLUTIONS.

Ponggal (Harvest Festival)

Ponggal is a harvest festival, largely celebrated by the Sounth Indian rice farmers. The festival lasts for 4 days. Traditionally, the harvest is a time when the farmers get their cash after selling their produce. So, the festival starts with:

Day 1 (Boghi/Cleaning)

This is the day to clean the house thoroughly. Any unwanted things must be discarded, the house can be given a new coat of paint and preparation will be made for the celebration next day.

Day 2 (Ponggal/ Harvest Festival)

The highlight of the day is the boiling of milk in earthern pot over wooden fire. Today this has been replaced with boiling milk over gas/electric stoves. Once milk boils over, the ladies will make auspicious sounds to welcome the good fortune of the harvest. Rice and brown sugar can be added to the milk to make sweet rice, which can then be served to the guests.

Day 3 (Mathu Ponggal / Cow Festival)

This day is to celebrate the cows and bulls that have been very helpful in the farming. Traditionally, bulls were used for ploughing and cows give milk, an essential item in an Indian diet.

Day 3 (Kanni Ponngal / Maiden's Celebration or Kanum Ponggal / Visiting Day)

There are 2 versions of this day. One says that this is the day a family makes known to the villages that they have a marriageable girl at home and that any marriage proposals are welcomed. The ladies will usually be dressed beautifully, adorned with flowers and jewelleries on this day.

The other version says that on this day, relatives and friends visit each other and shower one another with gifts. This also makes sense as the farmers are cash rich after the harvest.

My Ponggal was a modest affair. I boiled milk over my gas stove after work and made an attempt at sweet rice. We then had dinner at my friend's place. Ponggalo Ponggal!!!

STOP IT !!!

Nurin (8 years)

Nurin was abducted while walking to a night market near her home. She was later sexually molested, murdered and her naked body was stuffed in a sports bag and left near some shops. Shockingly, a brinjal has been stuffed in her private part.

Preeshena (9 years)

This little angel was sodomised, raped and pushed off the balcony of her condo.

Sharlini (5 years)

She went missing last week while playing with her sister at a playground near her home. Her fate...unknown. The man in the picture is the suspect. A nationwide hunt is taking place to track him.

All these senseless cases happened in less than 6 months in Malaysia. There are many more cases like this happening everyday. Our children are not safe anymore. There are beasts among us who have lost all sense of humanity. Whoever you are, you have degraded yourself lower than an animal. You are not a man for inflicting pain and killing these children. You are just a coward, afraid to live.

STOP IT !!!

Happy Birthday !!!

Last weekend were the birthdays of two precious people in my life...my aunty, who brought me up since small and shaped me to be who I am today (independent, free spirited and adventourous) and my hubby, the person that I sometimes bully a bit too much, love a lot and appreciate mountaneously.

I will like to take this moment to express my thoughts on these two wonderful people.

My Aunt:

- I am amazed at how much she can keep giving. She is like a spring of eternity, continously flowing her loving tender care for everyone in the family.

- She is a very determined lady. She works for what she wants and encourages everyone else to reach for their dreams.

- Her visionary planning is awe inspiring. She is very wise in planning for the future and very very careful in any dealings.

- Her ethics are exemplary. She taught us from very young that 'it is very easy to be evil in this world today, but to be good takes a lot of concious effort.

-She is amazingly patient in dealing with all of our antiques.

- She always put others before herself, ALWAYS.

- She is a great teacher.

My Hubby:

- I greatly appreciate his willingness to let me be who I am.

- He respects my wishes, which can be unconventional at times.

- I treasure his wisdom, they direct me to the right path, I can be too free spirited and idealistic at times.

- I value his patience in dealing with my temper.

- He is the best planner. He plans the best trips and suprises.

- I love arguing with him on all things, it is so stimulating for the mind.

- He goes out of his way to make me comfortable in all ways.

- He is so continously loving, sometimes I grumblingly reciprocate for my need of space.

- I miss his 'noise' whenever he is not around, for I love peaceful silence. I hate the way he blast the tv and radio but I miss it when he is not there to do it.

- I am amazed at how he tolerate my experiments with cooking.

- We argue like hell but never carry it to the next day.

To these 2 most amazing people, I love you dearly and you will never know how much more my life is happier because of the both of you.

The celebration started with a steamboat dinner on the night of 5th Jan, followed by cake cutting, shared by aunt and hubby. We welcomed hubby's birthday at his fave pub. He had another cake the following day at home with his sisters.