Having "Me" Time

With the holiday season knocking at the door, it is always a challenge to keep fit and healthy.  To maintain one's weight during the year is not so easy for most of us, let alone maintaining one's weight during the holiday season! All that turkey and holiday parties are extremely deterimental to one's waistline. So today I want to share with you a little secret on how to stay active and burn away a little of that holiday eating.  I realized this was something I had only begun doing recently since I began my weightloss journey over a year ago.  Now it has become a part of my routine.  What do I do?  It's easy.  I eat first then I shop. Didn't I say it was easy?  Now the important part is implementing it.  Before in my much much chubbier days, which I am happy to say is now behind me,  I didn't give a slight thought as to what I'll eat and when I'll eat it.  I'll eat when I'm hungry and t...

The festive season has begun and with it comes the time for gatherings and reunions.  Although we don't have the whole Christmas feel in Bangkok just yet it is coming.  I start to hear Christmas songs and the shops are all changing their displays.  Now all we need is abit of snow in Bangkok.   So with all these festivities going on, it is of course the time to go out and meet friends.  Friends you haven't met in a long time, friends who are back on a visit and friends who just want to hang out and have a good time.  Last weekend I went to meet some good old friends whom I've known ever since I can remember.  We went to this new restaurant called " The Anna Restaurant and Art Gallery." It's a cute restaurant and one that is simple in its furnishings yet pleasing to the eye.   It's housed in a relatively large compound of an old styled Thai wooden house whose interiros...

I love lazy Sundays.  I love it especially when the weather is not so warm outside and there are Christmas songs playing wherever you go.  I love the feeling of not having to rush anywhere or having to be at a certain place in time for an appointment.  What better day then than to go explore a new restaurant and find something good to fill our stomachs?   Today, Alex and I went to a new ramen place recommended by my brother.   Thank you.  The ramen was absolutely delicious.  It's name is easy to remember.  It's called Ra-men Restaurant.   What do they serve? Ramen. The ramen I have to say was one of the best ramens I've had in Bangkok so far.  Chabuton was good but slightly too salty for my taste.  Ramentei is delicious, but the ramen at Ra-men restaurant was good. Very good.  The soup wasn't salty and the noodles the right consistency.   I had "Hiyashi" which is the cold ramen noodle t...

Happy Thanksgiving! :)  Today, most families in the US will probably have Turkey for dinner together with family and friends.  The start of the festive season, it also marks the end of yet another busy year full of developments and happenings.   What better day to mark the end of my posts on Egypt.  Today, I end my journey to Egypt with the final resting place for most of Egypt's great treasures: The Egyptian Museum. After thousands of years of history, the final resting place for most of the Egyptian treasures is not located in the Valley of the Kings, nor inside Great Pyramids.  Instead, their final resting place is inside the Egyptian Museum or somewhere in a box in its basement.  First opened in 1863 my guidebook tells me that the museum had to move twice before settling at its current building in which it has been housed since 1902.  Even then, it is still not large enough to accomodate all ...

After digressing from my travels to my micro marathon, today I write about an activity almost every girl cannot resist: shopping.  This time though, it's about shopping in Cairo.  If you are anything like me, whenever I travel abroad I always want to take a piece of it back with me for "memories" sake.   So where do people go to shop in Cairo?  You go to the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar which also happens to be one of the oldest and biggest bazaars in the middle east. This bazaar is not only a place for tourists to go shopping, but it is itself a great place to get lost in and discover a part of ancient life in Egypt.  Since 1382, this had been a place where merchants from afar came to sell their goods, have coffee, smoke a sheesha and perhaps spend a night in one of the travel lodges.  It's filled with small alleyways and crammed with shops selling anything they can. As you walk by, merchants call out to grab your attention in a number of inte...

It's a day after the run, and although I only did 5K somehow my legs are still sore.  It must have been the way I "tiptoe" run or perhaps I'm just not used to so much running.  Funny though, even with sore legs,  the exhiliration from the run still lingers on.  I'm still very much stress free and happy.   I ran not for someone else but rather for myself.  It's something one does to challenge oneself.  When I signed up for 5K, I knew it wasn't much at all if you talk to a "real" runner, but for me who a year ago was still 15kgs (32lbs) heavier it was quite something.  I had started running to lose weight.  Prior to that, the last time I remember running was during my childhood days.   I had forgotten how it was to run and be "active."  So used was I to sitting in my office chair for 10 hours on end staring at the computer screen.  I had derived comfort from sitting, eating, and websurfing....

An event I had been looking forward to with much anticipation finally arrived today: The Bangkok Marathon.  The last time I ran (well walked most of it) was two years ago when I was still very chubby and very unfit.  This year, I registered for the 5K and being fitter I wanted to see how I would do. I wanted to see how actually running most of the 5K would turn out to be like.  It was also a fun event that Alex and I could both do together. The day started out early.  The 5K runners or what they call "micro-marathon" were to start running at 6.20am and due to the massive amount of people, I wanted to get there early.  Roads had been blocked around the beautiful historic area of Bangkok since early morning when the marathoners started out on their 4 hour long run.  Maybe one day I'll be crazy enough to do it, but for now I am happy with 5K.  There is a certain feeling of anticipation and unexplicable fun that comes with participating in su...

There are so many temples, so many majestic sites in Egypt that I dare not say which ones are better than the other.  Each person has their own preferences and what some like, others may not.  I,  for some reason, often find myself liking structures near to rivers or large bodies of flowing water.  Perhaps in another lifetime I lived on the river.  Who knows.   In Egypt, I rediscovered my love for water and one moment I remember clearly is the first impression I had of the Temple of Philae . On an island of its own, this temple is accessible only by boat.  It's late evening and the sun reflects off the dark blue water that mirrors the sky above.  It's been a tiring day and everyone is exhausted. We had been awake since 2am in the morning with our early morning flight to Abu Simbel then Aswan.  This temple I remember being almost our last destination for the day.  I was tired and sleepy.  I w...

Gliding down the River Nile, it is not surprising why since ancient times, it has been a source of inspiration for many.  As I sit on the sundeck looking out at the vastness of this river, I imagine that not much has changed here over the centuries.  The riverbanks are lined with palm trees and uninhabited fields.  I spy an occasional buffalo and watch birds fly in the clear blue sky.  A sense of calmness comes over me. This River, I imagine has this effect on people. The cruise ship quietly glides down the Nile at a steady pace, no rush, no hurry.  It is elegant and at one with the river.  I too am starting to a feel a bit of this calm rub onto me. I lie down on the sundeck and watch the change in scenery as we pass by.  For most of the time, all I see in front of me is the vastness of this river which has been the conduit of civilization for thousands of years.  This great river had been the source of life for without it's waters, whi...

Having climbed through the Great Pyramid, stood by the Sun boat, and sat on a camel;  I have to say that the 'real' journey to Egypt has only just begun.  There is much more than just pyramids and sand.  The real journey to ancient Egypt begins when you take the magical and unforgettable cruise down the River Nile.   One sees so many temples, all noteworthy and each second to none.  I, of course, will not be able to write about all of them for it will take up more than a month's worth of blogs and have the unfortunate consequence of boring my readers.  I shall therefore write about the ones that captured my imagination the most. This cruise down the River Nile is the part of the journey that I'll never forget.  Before we get to actually board the Cruise, we are are taken on a flight down to Abu Simbel and later flown to Aswan.  Some tours don't include Abu Simbel, but I think if you have the opportunity, you ...

The Great Pyramids of Giza prove to be closer to Cairo than I had ever imagined.  The Pyramids loom over your head as you head down a busy road filled with houses and people going about their business.  The roundabout is crazy and hectic with cars honking, cars crashing into one another before going on to their final destination.  Then amidst all this madness, the Great Pyramids suddenly appear before you as if it were just another construction.  An extremely large and over-powering one though. I get off the car and look up at the Great Pyramid.  It is indeed far bigger than I could have ever imagined.  Stones used to build this is said to weigh on average 2.5 tonnes with some stones at the base said to weigh as much as 15 tonnes.  The pyramid is perfectly symmetrical yet it was built over 5,000 years ago.  The ancient Egyptians had understood geometry since times past.  Fascinating.  I rub its rocks and am dumbfounded a...

Before we enter the land of the ancient egyptians, we visit the Citadel which was home to Egypt's rulers for almost 700 years beginning in 1176.   I must say it's definitely one of the largest Citadels  I've ever been to.  It's so big, it's like a little city all within itself with mosques, gardens, houses, and other buildings.  Up high on the hill, it rises above Islamic Islam as a reminder of ancient power and glory.  So great was it's empire back then. The main destination is most definitely the Mohammad Ali Mosque .  When I first hear its name, a grin flashes my face as it reminds me of the boxer, but then I remember that Mohammad Ali was the name of the founder of modern Egypt.  He had brough Egypt recognition after being part of the Ottoman empire.   It's an enormous mosque.  There is a large central dome and several other small ones. Two minarets rise out into the sky.  By the entrance, I am shown a beautiful ...

A little over a decade since I first started planning my trip to Egypt, I finally made it.  I was at long last in the land of the great pyramids, where great pharaohs had ruled Egypt for thousands of years.  I was finally in the land of the mummies and hieroglyphics.  A land where mysteries abound.  Of course my first destination was Cairo: the capital of Egypt. I landed at Cairo Airport and was instantly struck at the amount of people everywhere.  It's a small airport, so once off the airplane you just walk into the terminal building, watch your plane roll by and see a dozen tour groups waiting to go through immigration.  It was crazy.  Though busy and crowded with people like Japan, it was busy in a totally different sense.  Crowds of people stood around in anything but a line.  Tour leaders with dozens of passports in hand would somehow get to that window without havng to wait and then 'poof' his people would be through.  I realized...

An hour ago I watched Obama's speech in India in which he recognized India as the world's largest democracy and stated how they must work together with the US for with power comes great responsibility.  He also welcomed India to one day gaining a permanent seat on the United Nations' Security Council.   I find it fascinating for it comes at a time when China is gaining it's place in the world arena and with shifts of power, the US must find a strategic partner.   This is a story that sounds familiar and one that has been with us since the evolution of humankind.  Great civilizations have risen and fall, empires have been built and destroyed, great men have lived and died.  It's not new.  It just comes in different forms.  This is also the story of Egypt, a civilization that once existed over 3000 years ago and one whose remains still astound us to this day. I've always had a fascination for Egypt since my ...

Yesterday I woke up extremely early and it proved to be a wonderful start to the weekend.  I woke up at 5am and was out of the house by around 6am.  My mission was to go horseriding once again up in the mountains not far from Bangkok.  The air was fresh, the grass was clean and the atmosphere just wonderful... Life is lovely and slow here.  Life is healthy. My friends and I all got on our horses and each rode away to one's content.  I got to ride "Teacup" this time who was only 4 years old and a beautiful brown colour just like his mother who is sadly now in heaven.  It was good to be surrounded by nature once again far away from the hoards of people in Bangkok.  It's amazing how life can be so different just a little over an hour's drive away from Bangkok. The young girl who owns the stables is only 23 years ago yet she knows what it is she wants and what makes her happy which is wonderful.  Not a lot of people I know really know what is...

Eversince I started seriously running to lose weight, I've been running indoors on a treadmill.  I've run outside on and off before, but those were the days when I did exercise like the way I ran: on and off.  Now its good. I'm still running although it was terribly hard to get back in "the mood" for running after going to Japan but its one of those things where you have to push the "mood" aside and "just do it."  With the weather being as it is in Bangkok, averaging in the mid twenties, I decided it was time for me to take my running outdoors. I got up, put on my running gear and headed to my fitness.  Instead of going to the usual fitness room, I headed out to the running track which encircles the football field.   It's beautiful and green.  I feel like I've come to an oasis in the city, far away from the concrete buildings and the crowds.  I like feeling the breeze in my hair and the smell of fresh cool air filling up my lungs.  It...

The other day I finally tried the newly opened Airport Link in Bangkok.   Alex and I had to go meet some good friends who were just stopping by, and didn't want to drive there so we took the train.  The station is within walking distance from my place so its convenient.  Very convenient.  I wonder why I haven't tried it yet.  All it requires for me to get to the station is a quick 5 minute walk or even less. The City Line takes you straight to the Suvanabhumi Airport from Phyathai station in less than 30 minutes.  It makes eight stops along the way but its so fast and modern I instantly fall in love with it.  This beats having to drive to the airport by far.  I can just sit there comfortably in my seat and not have to worry about all the cars driving fast on the expressway nor having to find parking once I'm there.  Life is good. The station is big and spacious and they have escalators all the ...

And so my week long vacation in Japan has ended and what a better end to the vacation than going to a live piano performance by Yundi, the 2000 Chopin Competition Winner, at Bangkok's Cultural Centre which happens to be built with a grant by the Japanese in celebration of our King's 60th Birthday.  All's well that ends well they say.  I was fortunate to have gotten complimentary tickets from a dear friend of mine who is a regular at these events and always manages to magically have free tickets.  Lucky for me :)  Thank you again! You know who you are :D  And so a day after my arrival from Japan and a night before returning to work, I went to listen to Chopin at a cultural centre built with a grant from the Japanese.   The Japanese whom are also known to love Chopin. Chopin who was born in a country with which I grew up.  How strange it is when you think about all these linkages. The world is indeed a strange place.  Ev...