Having "Me" Time

Happy Friday! It's a long Labour Day weekend here in Bangkok as well as in other countries so its time to get out and relax! :) I'd like to borrow a quote from the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," which I just saw for the first time and found hilarious. During the wedding reception, the father of the bride gives a speech in which he says, " We are all different, but in the end we are all fruits." I loved it. He was talking about how his family's last name meant orange as in "oranges," while the groom's family last name meant "apple." One family was a traditional US family which was somewhat "dry as toast" (as the father of the bride described them) while the bride's family was very Greek and very large. There were relatives everywhere and everyone was in everybody's way. They were opposites, coming from different cultures,values, and beliefs. It reminded me of us here in Bangkok with our "fruity w...

Today I unintentionally did a very stupid thing.   I wore a shirt that I believed to be orange in colour, whilst others told me it was more red than orange.  (No, I do not sympathize with the reds.)  It proved to be a very interesting experience, but one I hope not to repeat anytime soon.  Here's my story.  This morning, I woke up at 5.30am so that I would be able to get to the fitness early, do my morning run and get to work in time.   I was sleepy and the room was dark.   I picked a skirt, grabbed a shirt, and a cardigan.  I looked at the ensemble quickly, and my mind went.."What colour is that?  Oh, its orange...okay, orange is fine.  Now you are running late, traffic might be bad, go and run!" I did my run, showered, and changed.  As I looked in the mirror, a terrifying thought flashed across my mind, "Oh my god! I'm wearing a bright red shirt!"  My cardigan was fitted and didn't cover my entire shirt.  I had nothing else to change into except my run...

Here's a sad but true reality:   if constantly exposed to violence we grow accustomed to it.   News that previously shocked us no longer have the same impact.  It makes me wonder, are we humans really that insensitive? or is it a reflection of ourselves?  Perhaps we don't care enough about things and events outside of our lives?  Perhaps some of us are just too self-absorbed to care. This past afternoon, there was once again a clash between the authorities and the red shirts.  We watched the news on TV amidst an already hectic workday.  Interestingly, today most of us just stood and watched for a few minutes and as the news changed, we each went back to our seats and meetings and continued on working as if nothing happened.  As if all was fine.    Is that all the attention that was deserved for such an event?  I think not. Some of us, me included, have lessened the amount of time we spend listening to the news to reduce our stress levels.   I am too absorbed in politics, I can...

We are having a very "fruity" war in Bangkok with durians, watermelons and tomatoes.  For those of you who wonder what I'm talking about, here's a bit of background.   The anti-government protestors in Bangkok are "Red Shirts" as they all wore red to protest.  The soldiers are green on the outside but we have some who internally take sides, hence the "watermelon." They are those who sympathize with the reds.   The "durians" are those who sympathize with the yellow shirts.   The "yellow shirts" are protestors who came out against Thaksin (Red Shirt Leader) a few years ago and closed our Bangkok airport.  (What a disaster that was) Finally, we have the " Tomatoes ." (Yes, they are a fruit, and not a vegetable.)  "Tomatoes" are those who are completely red, both inside and outside!  Juicy red tomatoes. Isn't it so funny to be describing peoples' political views by fruits?  I wonder if this would happen e...

In case you are wondering why I have two posts today, I have to admit that yesterday's one was due to a technical error on my part.  Got it fixed now :)  Anyways, I thought I'd post up some pictures for you to see me during my "peak" days. This is a picture of me with my beloved dog Dyzio during high school. He's now in doggie heaven and I miss him very much.  See how small my eyes are?  Chubby cheeks. The one on the right is from when I lived in Poland. I loved the potato dumplings there and ate so many of them I think I look like a potato myself!  Notice the arms and the way I had to stand to hide my tummy...ugh... poor me. :( Having cold weather for most of the year didn't help either. I remember it would go to -20 degrees celsius in winter and we would be living under sweaters and coats. It got dark at 3pm and you spent most of your life indoors.   Its a very easy way to gain weight!  Went ice-skating outdoors, but I guess that wasn't enough! I wasn...

I was looking over some old photos today of Alex and I last year at a restaurant and was shocked at how big we were.   Even when I was "big" and knew that I was chubby, I wasn't really aware of HOW big I was.  Now I know..I was BIG!  (I'll post up some more pictures tomorrow when I have a computer) It used to annoy me to no end when people commented on my weight.  Some people, I thought, were so rude to comment on my "chubbiness" in the first few minutes of our encounter.   Overtime I learnt it was a "Thai" thing. Thais were worried about our welfare in terms of food, "have you eaten yet?" and also about appearances.  It was important to look good.  First impressions are everything. I used to think ..."people should like me for who I am, it's inner beauty that counts not how I look outside."  I still believe it, but I realize now that the way I thought about it before was my way of giving myself an excuse to stay big. I told...

Have you ever got the feeling that sometimes your mind and your body don't really connect? That sometimes they feel like two entities rather than a unique one?   Strange but true, the most problem I've been experiencing since my weight loss is not about how to control my eating habits or to how to keep exercising, but it actually involves having my brain "catch up" with my new body.   Isn't that a delight to hear?  Food isn't the problem anymore! I never thought that "catching up" or "feeling whole" with my new body would be a problem for me.   I thought I'd just embrace my new body right away and enjoy all the perks that come with it. I suppose I had been oversized for too long.   When people comment on my "slim" body, I feel weird, as if something is wrong, as if the sentence is misplaced and out of context.   As if there must be a mistake.  When I run, my brain wants to stop, but my body feels like it can just keep going.  ...