BKK - Second Trip of the Year (Part II)
Favourite part of my trip is staying at Manathai resort. wonderful room that makes me prefer to stay indoor, toilet that i linger in longer than usual...
Breakfast place...beautiful green ferns & plants surrounding the whole resort.
Swimming pool is hogged by a family of ang-moh who are there almost every hour, up to the dad lugging the suitcases down the stairs to check-out.....
We were so nua that we only venture out for meals, lunch & dinner, we hang around our rooms & swimming pool...fries were YUMMY, it was a must every time we visit the pool...the boys swam & chatted, i entertained myself with....(actually i snap the photos just to ensure diff variations of the puzzles...i ended up with 10 variations! hah)
The resort was a 7mins walk from the main thoroughfare, close to the very long shopping street..i remember they sold products such as burmese walking sticks, herb basics, v cheap but organic body care products that i bought in abundance... and this high tea place where a swing is right smack in the middle of the cafe....Celadon Tea or something....pretty pretty....
Few days were up so we were back in BKK, stayed at St Davis, another posh but opulent hotel...yah, we splurge a lot on hotel stays....shit...so we end up eating at a cheap eatery where the lady dunno how to speak engrish, we dunno thai..3 bowls of noodles with 3 soft drinks less than $5...
We stumbled on this shopping mall only for ladies, cos sold only ladies stuff & have wordings related to ladies! i made pwj pose for this.....hah
BKK Trip - Second in the Year
We love Thailand too much. Made this trip with WJ, its our second time there together, think my fourth trip to Thailand.....our 12 days goes like this BKK-->Chiangmai--> BKK. Objective: Big time NUA.
Stayed at Bangkok Boutique Hotel ($100 per room per night). Situated at Sikhumvit Soi 22, but its nearer to the river then the main thoroughfare. minimal zen looking room with nice toilet. just a small small hotel v near to a road & bridge, can feel building shake when big vehicles rolled by. breakfast not that good either. staff is friendly & very helpful.
Hotel staff ask us to try River Taxi, a quicker option to land transport to get to MBK. u wait at the pier, the river taxi speedily splashed to a stop, everyone off loaded & got on fast, only clumsy tourists (only us by the way) were slower, i even saw working pple with skirts clambering up & down! and the blue stripe canopy were controlled by passengers from inside to prevent splashing drain water.
Chatuchak, MBK, massage then off we go to Chiangmai. I like it better, more laid back & countryside....1st 3 days, we stayed at 3 Sis Bed & Breakfast (rooms were a steal $50 per room per night, more rustic)
we went hotel hunting & explored the old city.
This is outside Tamarind Village, v quaint but expensive hotel. full of ang mohs.
Then we felt bored, shall we visit some doi suthep or doi inthanon something to pass time, we agreed on a day trip to a waterfall (where the tour agency say we can swim...) and a temple on a hill. ok, so we happily booked a trip for ourselves and were quite pleased to have a discount too. temple on hill, its august, hot season & visiting waterfall, we dress our usual, singlets & shorts. bus came & picked us up, we had company, 1 jap guy, eyes bigger than pwj. 1 middle east couple. 2 hrs van ride to our first visit to temple on hill.
It was then i realised how we have come to a foot of a mountain rather than a hill.... The driver switched off the aircon as they would ascending mountain road.... Wind was howling among the trees & weather turn misty....The window pane was cold like ice upon touching.....i turned & look at my companions who returned the blank stares. Yes, the tour guide said this is coldest part of thailand! at over 2000m elevation, highest point of thailand or something....shit....this is the group photo we took.
we were the only silly idiots in our fashion wear complete with slippers. yes, go ahead & laugh.
and the reason i luff my wonderful bf, he miraculously whipped out a windbreaker, say he brought it for me just in case (like how the hell we know we are visiting the highest spot aka coldest spot in thailand...)
we still enjoying it hor & laffing ourselves silly. anyway it was hilarious on looking back. It's one of the more memorable day trips..kekeke...
We went to ate Mike's Burger..expensive, yummy & in ang moh portion.
The, we hopped hotel...to one who had spa.....3.5 hrs Spa with 2 nights --> $200 for 2 pax!!
Hotel hopped again!! To the favourite part of our trip! We changed hotel to Manathai, a local buotique resort.........
(sorry, have to end here & to be cont'd ..the photos took ages to upload & getting close to bed time....hope my next blog will be soon!)
Easy Breezy
Not sure i'm a 'chin chai' bride-to-be or i make decisions very fast. till the time we decided to get married till now, we have little or no problems getting stuff done. so far,
- We have fixed the date. It is
8 March 2008 - 'Sam Ba Fu Nu Jie'
- Gotten a bridal package way back in July. $2,888 nett. with the usual items (off the rack evening & bridal gown, tailor pants for WJ, 3 men's jackets to loan, flowers, studio & outdoor photography..latest update i wrangle 32 photos with no additional cost!!!!)
- Booked venue: Goodwood Park (nice ambience with not bad food). lunch buffet for relatives & poolside dinner for friends.
- Stay where? At his place at least for next 1-2 years till property prices s not crazy so we doing up his room to be couple-friendly.
- Got actual day photography. love his angle & pictures
Left to do
- Invitation list, cards
- Traditional stuff like wedding gifts, when to give gifts
- Decoration at venue
- Program of the Day
- Enjoy the process
- Get fit for the day so wun b tired
hmmm..think that's about it!
Part-time to Weekend Housewife
My mum is getting better and better.
For the 1st 2 weeks since she's home, i took half day or at times, full day off & look after her needs, still shuttling back office for meetings. I have learned so much the past 3 weeks how to care for someone & the skills of being a housewife. Definitely fully understand why mothers are GREAT! beyond great. Despite the training I received from my mum for the past 15 years, i was still worn out with the continuous cleaning, cooking, marketing & juggling working at the same time. Slowly, i got used to routines.
Morning 7am - wake up & prepare breakfast for family(toast bread, oatmeal, left-over porridge or some other odd stuff found in fridge). Wash & dry clothes. Then time to prepare ingredients & cook lunch. What's for lunch - soup-based stuff, pork & carrot porridge, soup noodles, soup kway teow, soup macaroni, plain porridge with simple vegetables. i followed my mum's diet, healthy...
Dinner is more troublesome, have to cook for entire family, have to learn to gauge quantity of food, learn to pre-taste dish to know how much amount of salt to add, control fire (when to turn big, when to turn small), what ingredients to add first to cook longer, when to add last so not to over-cook.
And the cleaning up, i realise i was a clean freak cos i scrubbed & wiped every corner tt may be affected by the oil & grease. i learned how to cut fruits include skins & remove seeds of apples, big/small pears, plums, honeydew, papaya, watermelon, starfruit.
Sometimes have to rush to work after prep brkfst & come back at home at 2-3pm. my mum then will cook some simple & minimum effort lunch cooking.
we engaged a part-time house help who comes in twice a week to clean the house, it's such a relief to have someone doing the stuff i hate..clean toilets, vacuum & mop floor, clean windows among others.....
After 3 weeks,i'm back at work full-time, occasionally going back early to cook dinner. i'm still learning to get better at cooking, at least i'm more proficient of chopping garlic & onions. last week was my grandpa's birthday, my mum wanted to cook tumeric chicken, so i helped to chop up a basketful of garlic, small & big onions, ginger & tumeric. my back was aching cos i took more than 30mins to chop up everything.....my hands stink big time & could still smell the concoction of ginger & garlic when i sleep at night.
What Happen Lately
Lately, I was sprucing my skills to be a housewife, not by choice though.
Early Oct, My dear mum went for an operation to remove a cyst (8.8 x 7cm - grapefruit size) from her stomach. Our initial fear & worries of it being cancerous & life threatening were unfounded as it's benign, then our next immediate worry was how she's going to cope with the surgery, recovery & how the whole family is going to handle it.
My whirlwind timetable started the day my mum was warded (9 Oct), i visited the hospital twice daily, shuttling between work & home. squeezing in time to attend meetings and discussions. housework was aplenty when mum is not around. clothes piled up, floor need to be vacuum & mop, table needs to be wiped, toilets need to be scrubbed,plants watered. And dad wasn't making it easy for us when he wants to be served all the time, cut at least 2 variety of fruits without skin, cook meals for him. it was a most exhaustively period.
Discovered my mum is a silent warrior, she bravely endured the painful recovery process of post-op, and the op is quite a major op. how i know? the form at the hospital bill states tt it's the 3rd most expensive op from the list of 8. She was in high dependency ward with all sorts of tubes running all over her, and she was on epidural continously for 4 days, the tube was inserted into her spinal back. i was painful for all of us until she was finally transferred to a normal ward and discharged within a week of her operation. Doctor praised her recovery process & glad for her tt she's finally back home.
Grateful for all the well wishes & every little bit of help from anyone, from work to personal friends & relatives, were magnified * much appreciated during these times.
