Having "Me" Time

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Even if you don’t celebrate it, I think it’s a great day to just go out, reunite with family friends and have an awesome day. Today what comes to mind is how we humans are indeed funny creatures (or maybe it’s just me). Have you ever been in a situation where you had to make a decision, yet a zillion different choices come up? Which choice do you choose? What happens to me is that at first instinct, I say “This is what I like.I choose “A”. However, to be sure that THIS is the choice that I really like, I end up going through all the alternatives in meticulous detail. I go through the pros and cons, check details on websites, read reviews and think about the choices day-in day-out. The result? After painstakingly looking at all the details and having a pile of information, I go back to “A.”The first option I decided on. It makes me wonder, why do I go through all these motions of checking, going through details, only to revert back to the...

For some things in life you only discover a love, a passion for it later on in life. I suppose it's better late than never as the old saying goes.   With this blog, I rediscovered my love of writing and with teaching I discovered my love of teaching. Nothing gives more satisfaction than the sight of someone's eyes sparkle in delight and understanding when something previously unknown is finally understood.   I had been teaching younger kids and have recently moved onto teaching older students getting ready for college entrance exams.  You may wonder what is so good about teaching?  You keep saying what you know to students again and again?  For me it's more than that. It's fun and exhilirating.  Teaching for me is not just about going to a classroom and lecturing so that students can jot down notes and memorize.  Teaching is understanding and realizing the potential in each student.  Teaching involves understan...

Let's forget floods tonight and talk about cooking.  If you are a cook, and cook meat, then you are bound to have heard this, "Seal in the juices by searing meats before you cook."  For the non-cook, what does this mean?  It means basically to fry or expose the outer layer of meat to high temperatures before baking, or continuing to cook it.  My family does it, and so do my aunts.  I thought it made sense.  You cook the outer layer first, so that the raw juice would not be able to come out.  It's like one of those know-hows that gets passed down from generation to generation.  Lifehacker says this is not so.  Here's why. The article says that this was first proposed in the 19th century by a German chemist called Justus von Liebig who said that applying very high temperatures to meat would create a "sealed" layer of cooked meat through which liquid the inside meat would not be able to escape. (Wow, I didn't realize this would go back so long...

In life, in dealing with problems and losses we go through five stages of emotions:   denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance .  Most commonly we experience this from heartbreak, losing a loved one, going through a crisis, business problems, etc..  The list is endless.. We humans have a lot of problems and we deal with them through our emotions. Sometimes we do not acknowledge that these are our emotions.  Yes, we feel hurt, feel sad, feel angry, feel serious, feel resentment.  We try to act "civilized" and push these emotions aside.  We ignore them. After all, we are all grown ups and grown ups do not succumb to their emotions.  It's dangerous.  Psychologists mention that it is not good to ignore these emotions for it can cause "emotional indigestion." It can cause us to be tense, stressed and ready for a fight. Our heart beats faster and our natural instinct sets in.  We want to survive. We are ready fo...

I'm ready to go home.  I miss my home.  I miss my life and yes, I have to admit, I do miss going to work as well.  I miss the certainty of it all.  I like adventures, but this flooding is not an adventure I like nor enjoy.   I suppose this is what people feel like in wars where they are forced to evacuate their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.  Almost four hundred people have already died. Some die from tripping and drowning, others from electrocution, or some from health problems.  I suspect too that all this stress from watching flood related news in order to find out if our house will be flooded or not is causing significant psychological distress.   Now all I want is to get flooded and get it over with. Dear water, just flood and begone. This flood has also reinforced something I've thought about before and that is to just live your life before it's too late.  You never know when you are going to...

It's August already and the end of the year is fast approaching. Just like that.  In a few months 2011 will be over and done with.  However, there are still a zillion things I want to do and so today I give you instead a list of places I still want to go to and things I want to do before the year is up.  I'll probably be adding to this list as the months go by so ideas are more than welcomed! Walk up to the Golden Mount Temple; Go inside Hualumphong Train Station; Take a one day train trip on Thailand's ancient railroad (steam engine if possible); Take the Chaophraya Express Cruise 9 Temple Tour; Take a one day trip to Pattaya; Take pictures of old shop house signs in Old Bangkok; Walk along Saphan Kwai, an old business district; Explore the weekend jatuchak market; Organize my photos and burn DVDs; Finish making my handmade books; Reorganize Having "Me" Time Website; Initiate an event; Run the 5K Bangkok Marathon; If you have any sugge...

July has come and vanished before my eyes as if it were a firefly.  It's my birthday month and now I am officially another year older.  (Hopefully a little wiser. )  Birthdays are one of those days you can't wait for to arrive when you are a child, get a little anxious when it gets to a turning point, (like when you turn 30 or move up another notch), yet there remains a certain childish feeling of happiness one cannot quite put into words.  Though it dissipates over time, hints of it remain in the system as if it were a glowing glittering firefly that never dies. Birthdays for me have always been one of those days to celebrate with friends and families.   Three decades on they still are but of course things have evolved. No more days of hot potato games, blowing out candles (that actually reflect your actual birthday), or  playing hide and seek.  Now it's dinners and lunches in restaurants surrounded by those who matter ...

Every year just before my birthday, I get into a frenzy and decide I have to make a resolution.  It's a relatively new phenomenon for me thats been happening ever since I hit my thirties. I suppose it's the sudden realization that I am no longer young.  Each passing year, means another year of my life has passed and there are fewer to look forward to. We grow up hearing abuout New Year Resolutions, but I wonder why can't we have Birthday Resolutions? It sounds so much more fun.   Each year just before our birthdays, we can all make resolutions.  Resolutions for ourselves. Resolutions that we want, whether it be taking better care of our health, or finishing that project we've been planning for years. You start off these resolutions at your own pace, your own time.  The focus is on you. Afterall, it's your birthday.   It's "Me" Time resolutions to remind us that these are goals we set for ourselves and sincerely want to get done....

If you were wondering about the title, "No my blog isn't having any "down time" anytime soon but please do have some "me" time :)  Everyone sooner or later needs to have "downtime" for themselves.  I was reading two lovely articles today shared by a good friend about how to be happy and how to have work-life balance.  I think what they say is definitely something we should take into account a bit more consciously.  Not just as a passing thought, but as an action.  Afterall, it's the action that counts. One of things they mentioned was "downtime."  It mentioned that we should schedule "downtime" for ourselves every week to ensure that we get the rest we need.  A little relaxation can go a long way and instead give you more focus, energy and a clearer mind. Sometimes when we are stuck in the everyday rut of "work, work, and more work" we can't seem to even find time for ourselves to take time for the bathroo...

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...

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...