Feeling Blue

I have been under the weather since I am aware of my father’s health problem. I didn’t talk through about this with my other half as he has already had so many things to take care of. I stay up late most of the time, eat unhealthy food a lot, and that means my depression take over naturally.

 One evening, I was just sitting on the couch, and my other half curiously asked me about what were the results from my father’s recent health check-up. Since I didn’t really know the exact answer, he called to my sister, asked what happened, made an appointment with one doctor he relies on for the next day in order to make sure my father got the good care. It is just a small gesture, which I am sure most of us will act the same in similar situation, but I am grateful for his act that day.

Then I mentioned him about what I read from this blog, which apparently made me hungry at that time. So he prepared all those things for us to enjoy lunch and dinner on last Saturday. May be our preparation hasn’t got the look, but it sure taste delicious and I am, again, thankful for his act.

*We really love to eat the food separately even if it is supposed to be mixed with other ingredients in a dish.

Miss Universe 2010

Congratulations to those Beautiful Ladies @ Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas

Fourth Runner-up                        Philippines

Third Runner-up                          Ukraine

Second Runner-up                       Australia

First Runner-up                            Jamaica

Miss Universe 2010                    Mexico

Miss Congeniality                       Australia

Miss Photogenic                         Thailand

National Costume Award          Thailand

*All the pictures are downloaded from related sites.

The Kid in Me

I am neither cat nor dog person, and actually, I never have a pet of my own, and never intend to have one. But, I always love to buy teddy bears, and other cute furry little things. Now that I have aged, I found myself enjoying in petite sculptures and papier-mâché, which are not expensive, and cute of course. Let’s have a quick look at my passage: The traditional papier-mâché toys picture and the kid playing with his new toy were taken at ShweDaGon Pagoda two years ago and those ducklings were from last year. My last entry was about those long-tailed cats, which are made of wood and sold at Siam Center. I believe those things do bring out the kid in me in some ways.

I have been hungry for this local specialty from Myeik and today; I have a chance to cook it the way we both love to eat from local vendors there. Since we don’t want to eat meat or seafood, we always go to the particular hawker, who sells those noodles only in dried shrimp or Chinese sausage.  It is simple to cook, so I can pull it off. Most people love to add more meat or garnish with green onion, bean sprouts and slice lime and yet I love just the way without them . 

Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon 7!

Surrounded by a group of friends who love to eat to the full gave me an ultimate experience of dining during my last trip to my hometown. Their treats stretched from morning to evening, from a simple and delicious tea to an undeniably yummy dinner. As usual, we were brought to that specific diner by a very good friend couple of my other half, and four of us had a great meal.

I chose Fish and Chips, yes, very old school, as I love to eat fish in every occasion. My beloved hubby had a hamburger, which was different from McDonald or Burger King and that’s why he loved it. Our hosts had spaghetti and tiger prawn salad, which I am sure flavorful. The satay was served as an appetizer, and we ordered water for the drinks.

Given our habit of having coffee after every meal, we eventually went to Coffee Circle, where we can access Internet for free. I saw a lot of customers in different age brackets, different racial types, and different clothing designs. Among our fellow citizens, more and more people prefer to wear jeans or frocks instead of our traditional sarongs. I don’t know how am I supposed to feel, proud or unhappy with the trendy styles. Anyway, this is my last post relating to my last journey to our golden land.

Just another day

Actually, I didn’t even looking for that kind of book when I tried to find English/Spanish picture dictionary for my dear friend a month ago. Then the very thought of buying English/Thai picture dictionary for myself came across yesterday and I bought it at last, my first English/Thai picture dictionary from Kinokuniya. The price is reasonable, the only weak point for that kind of dictionary is that we can’t compare and choose from various publishers.

Tough I have made some dishes for our dinner, my other half insisted to dine me @ the 9^th Café. May be he noticed how I love to eat Italian/Thai fusion food last time and that’s why he tried to bribe me with the food I can’t say “no”. May be he knew the fact that I don’t normally cook and end up buying noodles or grilled chicken from street vendors or fast food whenever he is on the trips.

Well, this time @ the café, we skipped the coffee and ordered just water.  Remember the post about how I love to eat spring rolls, and I can’t restrain myself from not ordering that too. I love it as instead of cabbage or bean vermicelli, the 9^th Café has come up with spinach, chicken and corn, and it was very appetizing. My other half enjoyed his soft shell crab with pepper while I have been a picky eater since my crab did taste more like breadcrumbs rather than crab. Overall, it was a very delightful evening if we disregarded the infamous traffic jam. 

14.08.2010

Who would have thought we would still be together until this very day! To celebrate this meaningful day for both of us, no invitation cards are sent to anyone, we expect no one but ourselves. Our relationship gets strengthened over years. I would say, “ two separate individuals joined together for combined venture (Joint Venture) and now, we form as Partnership, share the profit and take the burden of loss. Not so romantic, right?

Now comes the fun part, at least for me, as we go out to have lunch and dinner. Since I didn’t have time to eat Biryani during my last trip to Yangon, we decided to have lunch at Seit Taing Kya (from Yangon), which is located about 12 kilometers from our place. I have to say that the taxi fare always costs more than we eat, but it is still worth it, as the food and the service haven’t disappointed us yet. A detailed rendezvous with our country mates at their place, buying necessary things for my significant other’s coming trips will be omitted from this post.

After that, we were quite hungry, and finally made it to the 9^th Café. So I ordered my ever so favorite, Spinach Lasagna, and as for my husband, soft shell crabs with pepper. Let’s not forget my coffee addiction: so Cappuccino for me and Latte for him, I totally neglect my calorie consumption at that time. The food tasted delicious and coffee tasted mediocre. I should have ordered water at that café and drink coffee at Starbuck. * The price on the menu doesn’t include 10% service charges and 7% value added tax.

When we saw the advertisement about Coach and Kenneth Cole Sales starting from 50% during 12^th -15^th August, we automatically headed to Paragon 4^th Floor. For Coach, the sales items include bags, and small purses from last season, and bags, shoes, shirts, belts from Kenneth Cole are on sales from 50%. Goods sold are not exchangeable and refundable, so being cautious and picky about everything is a good habit in buying sales items, I believe. 

Mother's day

*Picture: Google

Since Her Majesty Queen Sirikit’s birthday is on August 12^th, it is considered as a national Mother's Day in Thailand and is one of the most important days of the Thai people. The symbol is "Jasmine" which represents pure, and white as a symbol of chastity of the mother who give birth to us. What do I want to celebrate this day? Well, in a perfect world, I want to grab my purse and buy the Jasmine garland for someone who is special, my mom, and go to lunch with her. Event like this makes me wonder how am I doing these years to return her merits. 

Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon 6!

It is true that I love tea, especially with noodles salad, at any teashop. A perfect combination of taste and satisfaction of mind can be found only in my native land. No other food combination is likely to fulfill my taste buds other than these in the morning. So, I try to have those most of the time during my every trip to Yangon. Spring rolls, however, fell between these two significant favorites.

I never try to make that snack myself since I have no doubt of my spring rolls turning up not well. I do have an option though, so I bought them from the street vendors. You might find it hard to believe, it costs only 20 Bahts. The fillings are different from my home, instead of cabbage, carrot, and meat of our choice, here, we can find mostly with bean vermicelli and shitake mushroom. I could eat just that as a lunch with salad, a sweet dressing, and sprinkle the smashed peanuts as a garnish.

Hello Bangkok, Goodbye Yangon 5!

Yangon trip never completes without a lunch at my in-laws.  That one particular day, my friend, me and my other half met at Zawgyi house for morning coffee, and did a little shopping at various bookstores. Then we have been asked whether we would like to have lunch at home or not by his mom. I say “Yes!” without a blink. Well, I always fond of their home cooking since I can’t put together a lot of dishes like them. Then there is more, they always buy yoghurt as a dessert too.

* I can't believe I take only one shot for the fried chicken.

*The above chicken curry is from Golden City Indian Food and Tea house.

That day, I brought my dear friend, as she also loves to eat there. There we were, talking, having lunch, and forgot about everything except for those delicious dishes. I kind of forget to take one or two dishes, which I don’t eat. As I was expected, yoghurt has been bought from the market for us, and coffee was freshly brewed. I am always thankful and grateful for their warm and attentive treats whenever I am there.

Are these manners socially acceptable?

The first thing I would likely to have seen such a behavior is from a teenager sitting on the bench at a park. But, no,no,no, I did not right it right again. There was this couple in their late twenties, not Thai, not European, and probably from India, got into the bus, and eventually got the seats. They cuddled, and sat very comfortably as if they were sitting in their living room. Am I way to traditional or conservative? Oh, wait, I have been to New Delhi, they don’t act like this in public.

Raining hard has destroyed my mood to enjoy the evening, so I came back home earlier than planned. On my way back home, I took the bus again as it is too convenient. Sitting besides me was a one good-looking Chinese-Thai in her early twenties girl. I did understand how bored she would be, trapped on a bus among strangers in Bangkok traffic. Through out the world, there are some different manners for us to comply, but sitting this comfortably on a bus is not one of them, I hope.

I didn’t know that the annoyance had more to offer: a group of multinational students, I guess, hopped in and had been talking to each other loudly the whole time. Most people stared at them, shook their heads for unspeakable reasons. I did nothing but to listen to dhamma from my phone to forget all unpleasant encounters. Am I being hypocrite for not expressing my feelings on the bus and worst of all, writing down in my blog?