Having "Me" Time

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...

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 ...

For the first time this year, today Bangkok citizens felt the first cool breeze of the upcoming winter season.  Last year we barely had a day of cool weather, this year seems promising.  Since early morning, the sun was out but instead of being hot and humid, it was wonderfully cool averaging around 25 degrees celsius.  Oh how I love this weather.  The entire city feels like it is airconditioned.  This cool air of autumn is one of my favorite times during the years and always makes me happy.  It reminds me of the beautiful autumn colours, hiking in the Shenandoah Mountains last year, or in the Austrian countryside.  It's always so relaxing and pleasurable after the summer rush and energy.  Then Thanksgiving arrives and the festivities begin.  Of course it also reminds me of  my recent trip to Japan when all the shops started putting everything up for Autumn and it made me think about what were my impres...

Back from my very brief vacation in Kuala Lumpur I must admit, I miss it already.  Flying out Friday morning and back on Sunday evening, it was indeed a very short trip but one that I'm glad I finally made.  I had been meaning to go for several years now upon the invitation of a wonderful friend there, but for one reason or another, I just never made it.  Now that I have, I wish I had done it sooner.  Being able to reunite with a long time friend was wonderful and I'd like to "Thank You" her and her family for giving me such a wonderful time there.  They were a wonderful host. There is much to see and do in Kuala Lumpur than first meets the eye.  Only a two-hour flight from Bangkok and accessible on the low-cost AirAsia it is a wonderful little getaway place to go if you are in need of an escape from everyday life whilst at the same time discovering a new culture and way of living. Unlike Thailand which is predominantly Buddhist (90percent),...