Having "Me" Time

My internet is finally back in working order today.  I think all this weird weather has been causing havoc to everyone and even disrupting cables.  Thailand at the moment is in a strange state indeed.  In the north we have earthquakes, in the south we have flooding, high waves of 2-3 meters are causing people to leave the islands, and in the northeast we have drought.  Bangkok itself is experiencing abnormally cold weather.  People are suffering. Those in the south of Thailand have had to evacuate their homes due to flooding.  Beautiful beaches where once we would dream of laying on the white sandy beaches looking out towards the sea has become a place to stay away from.  Entire beaches which were once 25 meters long are now underwater and roads are being destroyed.  Now is not a good time to go to the beach.  Who knows what the world will be like in the future?  Some say it'll snow in Bangkok.  It's hard to believe but the...

Today I read an interesting article in the New York Times entitled  "What's Your Biggest Regret?" it's interesting that one should study about it, but I suppose to learn and understand human behaviour, we have to take surveys and see what others feel.  Interestingly, the most common regreat among American adults involves a lost romantic opportunity.  This was from a sample of 370 adults. Second was family issues. It makes me think about "regret." Some consider it feeling a deep "remorse" or a sadness for a loss or absence of something.  Some define it as the "opportunity lost" or a "sadness one feels after an action one wishes one had not done."  Whatever definition you give it, it is basically a feeling one feels when one wishes one had taken an action rather than the one had. Then I thought about what my deepest "regret" was.  This was not easy as I tell myself not to "regret" any decision I make becaus...

At 8.30pm today we had Earth Hour.  An hour when everyone worldwide together turned off unecessary lights and gave the world a much needed rest.  I think it's a wonderful initiative and one that I hope continues on every year.  Perhaps it will gather momentum and move to be twice a year.  Who knows.. it's such a simple gesture but one that is a great reminder to us all to take care of this earth we live in. It always amazes me how simple gestures can be so powerful.  This Earth Hour was initally started in Sydney in 2007 and it has since expanded across the globe.  Wonderful, thank you for having started this.  One hour we say might seem little, but in reality its effects are much more than we realize.  Millions of households simultaneously turning off lights will of course result in energy being saved and thereby having less environmental damage on the earth.   The important thing about this E...

A few weeks ago I went for the first time to a restaurant not far from Bangkok that made me feel like a child again.  It's called Baan Nam Kieng Din, around 45 minutes drive and located on the beautiful Utayan road which is between Nakorn Chaisi and Phuttamonton.  It is very near to the Buddhist Park at Phuttamonton which has the highest standing buddha image in the world. Yes, it's incredibly big.  If you combine the dinner with the buddha image it makes a wonderful afternoon out. Anyways, this restaurant is wonderful in that it caters to people of all ages and when you go there, you feel like you escape the world a little and go on a little holiday.  The drive out under the big wide sky relaxes you and the spacious garden greets you upon arrival makes it feel fun and exciting.  The garden isn't just any garden, there are small ponds with a pair of black swans, enclosures with bunny rabbits running around and ducks of all sizes that just...

This morning I went running and still even though its been over a year since I started running, I still can't quite get the breathing right.  I take short breaths in and long breaths out.  I gasp for air and my legs start to go all wobbly.  All I can think is when do I next get to stop.  Oxygen isn't getting to me fast enough.  I feel like I'm suffocating a little.  I can feel my lungs heave against my chest.  I reach the end of my minutes and I heave for air. This is not how my breathing should be and it makes me tire more easily than I should.  There has to be a better way to breathe.  I can't quite get over my neighbour who is running along as if he were out on the countryside smiling, looking left and right.  His breathing is calm and relaxed.  His running looks so easy.  His feet are quiet.  I take a peak at his speed and he's running at 10.5 km/hour!  Wow. That's ve...

Earlier this morning rain poured down in Bangkok as if the Gods were angry at us.  Sounds of thunder roared all over Bangkok alternating with flashes of lightning.  Wind gushed against the window, flowing through trees and reorganizing the branches;  making them look as if they had just got out of bed.   It rained so hard that it could literally be raining cats and dogs.  Temperatures dropped from the mid 30's (celsius) to the mid 20's. Last week, temperatures in Bangkok dropped down to 18 degrees celsius and lasted for roughly two days.  It was the coldest two days I've ever experienced in Bangkok (since I've been here on a regular basis since the year 2000).  It was strange.  I could sleep in my room without opening windows nor turning on the air conditioning and snuggle under my blankets.  Even then I was slightly cold.  I had gotten used to Bangkok's sizzling temperatures.  Others wore jacket...

We've all heard of "Good" fats and "Bad" fats but do we really know how to look out for them? I always get a little loss looking at the label.  Sometimes there is the polyunsaturated fat or transfat? Monounsaturated and Saturated.  Anything that has the word "fat" in it sounds scary, when in reality some of those "fats" are actually good for you!  Below is a great video explaining how to watch out for "bad" fats on food labels :)  Let's all take care of our health.  A little here and there helps a lot.  Remember, each little step that brings you closer to good health is a step in the right direction!

Happy Anniversary!  Yes, it's Having 'Me' Time's first Anniversary!  A little over a year ago (on March 16th, 2010 to be exact) I turned on my computer, logged into a very old blogger account that had been inactive for years, and wrote my first post.  I thank you Alex for encouraging me as you always have.  I had no clue how it would evolve and until this day I am still wondering where all this writing will take me.  The only thing I am sure of though is that I'm enjoying every minute on it and that I truly appreciate everyone who has continued to follow my posts as well as your comments.  They make my day. Thank you for reading :) A lot has happened in the past year, not only with me but with the world in which we live.  Imagine, a year ago who would have thought an earthquake and tsunami of such magnitude would occur in Japan? Haiti and New Zealand?  The middle east was still calm.  There were...

Last night I opened up my email and read a lovely forward from an old childhood friend I've known since my age was still a single digit. We haven't lived in the same country for decades, but we always keep touch and she always sends such good forwards. This particular one though I could not let it past without sharing it with everyone. Thank you for sharing it with me. You know who you are :) The story is a bit long but please read it all the way through the end. It's a great reminder to us all of what is important in life, in relationships and how we view the world. Sometimes we go through life, trying to do everything that's expected of us, until we lose sight of the person we really are and the people who surround us. We are too busy performing our "tasks." Take a "pause" every now and then, look at the person next to you, and really see them. Are you spending "quality" time together? Are you taking care of each other and really unde...

Yesterday morning as I headed out to run amidst the rain, I felt like I wanted to snuggle back into bed and just enjoy sleeping through the rain. Then I turned on the news to watch while I run and saw the devastation in Japan. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time it is also a humbling experience. It reminds us how fragile our lives are. Lives could change in matter of minutes. No matter how much you anticipate it, prepare for it, you can never be sufficiently prepared. Who would imagine that this seemingly harmless "water" could suddenly rise up so high that it would topple buildings, pass the barriers and tumble down upon houses, obliviating all in its path and leaving nothing but a pile of debris and mud. A newspaper today showed a cruise ship balanced ontop of a two or three storey building. It's not architecturally constructed, yet it happens in real life like it were showing off the force of nature. And so with this giant of an earthquake in Japan, many ...

When sorting through belongings, sometimes you discover something that reminds you of younger, former days.  Those "good" times you had when you were young.  I recently discovered a picture that reminded of my "older" days. Days when I was "older" than I am now. It's funny, when I think about myself now and then, I do feel younger.  I feel more alive and more in tune with life now then I was 10, 15 years ago...  I used to wear long dresses, long sleeved and was always so proper.  I suppose my big size made the matter all the more difficult to dress "young" because it was hard to find clothes that fit.  I got tired of looking for clothes and just wore whatever I could fit.  Now, much lighter,  I can finally dress my age which is wonderful. :) Take a look at the picture!  What do you think? I'm the auntie on the leftmost side.

It's been two days since the earthquake in Japan, yet safe in Bangkok I still feel a certain sadness for those in northern Japan.  Some entire villages were swept away. Entire families and communities gone just like that.  In a blink of an eye.  I cannot imagine.  I cannot say I understand how it must feel to be in the midst of this devastation because I am not there and I am not the one whose house was swept away or whose relatives are missing.  All I can say is that my thoughts are with those in Japan and that I pray the worst is over.  This earthquake demonstrates how powerful nature is to destroy all in its path.  Nothing can withstand the force of 10 meter high waves hitting inland. Footage show entire houses being swept away as if they were toy houses and cars rolling around in the water like ice cubes bubbling up and down in water.   Some say it is nature's way of "cleansing" itself, it is inte...

This afternoon, as I sat there watching and reading the news about the earthquake in Japan, I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness and a certain emptiness inside.  The quake measured 8.9 on the richter scale.  This is no little affair even for Japan which is used to having earthquakes.   I pray that there are no devastating aftershocks and that the tsunamis don't affect more people than it has already.  I know it's partly wishful thinking since warnings have been issued from Russia to the US, and the Philippines, but one does have to hope for the best.  We must all hope for the best. This was one catastrophic movement of the teutonic plates and somehow this past year or so, more of these catastrophic events have been occurring.  I'm not sure if its just me but with the one in Haiti, New Zealand , Indonesia and South American countries,  earthquakes seem to be occuring every few months.  Thaila...

I enjoy eating food cooked in almost every style.  I love italian food, japanese food, french food, italian food, indian food, and yes even british food.  (There's something about mushy peas as well as fish and chips)....The list is endless, but tonight I want to talk about middle eastern food and a great place to have it at Beirut Restaurant . Beirut Restaurant is a Lebanese restaurant and apparently has quite a few branches.  I went to the one at Ploenchit Tower (accessible by BTS station Ploenchit) with some good friends who like to explore. The restaurant and the food turned out much better than we expected.  So good that since then we have all been back again together as well as with others. So what do they serve?  As Lebanon borders on Syria and Israel, the food you get there is the classic range of blended beans, eggplants and other kinds of dips.  My favorite is the Hummus made of blended chickpeas and olive olive oil, Babaghanouj wh...

I have a love for gadgets.  It's something that I think many of us share is this day and age when technology is just at your fingertips.  Everything can be ordered and viewed online.  Since the iPad's 2 launch exactly a week ago I have been drooling over it.   I'm tempted, very tempted.  I keep watching the adverts on youtube.  But now that the iPad 1 is almost a hundred dollars cheaper, which would make the more practical buy?  Do I really need one considering the lifestyle I have now? This past week, in order not to have an "impulse buy" I've been thinking about it.  (Actually, I've been thinking about it since the launch of iPad, but could not reason getting one considering it seems like a bigger version of my iPhone.)  Now with iPad 2, my desire for one gets stronger.  It's just a matter of time.   As technology evolves, so does our future.  In the future I envision many households having at least one iPa...

Ever since I've moved house earlier this year, I've had the opportunity to see another part of life I had never previously seen.  I now live next to a military base that is also open to the public. Cars pass through in and out to get to the main road on the other side of the base.  Most mornings and evenings that's the route I'd take.  Unexpectedly though, on a quiet day you can be most certain to hear the sounds of soldiers in training.  Just half an hour ago as I lay on my bed relaxing, a beautiful sound came through the window.  It was the sound of trumpets playing a tune that reminds me of war movies. It was 9pm.  Like an alarm clock, every evening and not a minute late,  the sound of trumpets playing a tune will echo through the air and flow through all the houses in the surrounding area.  It sounds magical.  If you wake up early, you're hear the same tunes being played at the wake of dawn.  5am.  The...

It's Sunday.  Sundays are times for relaxing and as I've written before in my post entitled "Lazy Sundays Wanted" its a day I want to just sit back, relax, and plan my week ahead.  Since my post exactly 9 months ago, I've been getting alot better at not running around on Sundays.  Still it's a work in progress and I will have to keep working at it, most probably for the rest of my life. I have recently realized that sometimes to stop myself from running around doing things on my "To Do List", I have to make myself go to a coffee shop and relax.  The place of choice is most often Starbucks as its convenient to find on almost any street corner.  Once there, I am away from all the things that distract me from having a good rest.  There's no messy room for me to keep feeling I have to clean it up.  No boxes left unopened that must be unpacked.  No old exams and bluebooks since college that are just gathering dust w...

Tonight, I end my series on Vienna.  There are many things I have yet to write about but if I were to write about everything, then you'll be reading about Vienna for a couple more years.  Entire books can be written about this remarkable city.  This city of art, history, love, culinary delight and wars.  So with much heardache but a growling stomach I leave you tonight with a Viennese favorite since 1832: the Sachertorte . As you probably know, I have a particular fondness for all things chocolate. Dark chocolate. The Sachertorte is a chocolate cake unlike chocolate elsewhere.  First of all, its not spongey, soft or fluffy.  It's a rich dark heavy chocolatey cake that is best served with a dollop of freshly beaten fresh cream.   Best suited for those who like things with a bite.  I do.   I wish I had one right now but helas no one I know is returning from Vienna.   I'm tempted to order online but there is a high risk th...

I have lots of "To Do" lists. I think everyone does. And sometimes it gets a hold of me. I want to finish everything on that "To Do" list and when I do, I feel great. I feel like I've accomplished something but then all I did was cross off things on my list only to add more things to it. It becomes a vicious cycle that never ends. I delete then I add. I run around like a crazy girl on weekends driving here and there, doing this and that. When traffic is bad. I use the time to call up people and check on stuff I otherwise don't have time to. I plan my route so it is most efficient, but some days I can be out of the house by 8am and not be back till almost 9pm. I feel like a winded clock. I can't wait to get home. When I do, I rush up to my room and collapse on my bed like it was my saviour. I fall asleep thinking about what I have to do tomorrow and next week. My brain is on a perpetual "go." Some nights I dream of things I have to do. That...