Filed under: L.ove, Life's fragile recollections, Rhyme & Riddle | Tags: brain, feelings, life, operation, poem, recovery, reflections, rhyme, surgery, thoughts
A hot air balloon emerging from the mist,
Perhaps this is what reality looks like under all that morphine.
For months I’ve buried the stirrings of an emotional connect beneath the daily grind,
Only for a fatal incident to open my eyes to the love from friends and others close to my heart I nearly left behind,
Through morphine and painkillers those memories are fleeting, but real,
As they etched themselves into my heart to remember, to heal.
My friends, you came and chatted, how I hung on to those conversations,
They remind me of our shared laughter and enjoyable moments,
How we’ve grown and paved our path to future destinations;
These I’ve neglected, all in the name of blinded pursuits for success and accomplishments,
And to close a chapter on love and all other emotions.
The days at home can be long and empty,
Filled with images and thoughts but alas they are so damn flighty;
You came by and spent the hours with me when I’m stuck at home and my brain so laggy,
Not my best state, with the world through my eyes turning topsy-turvy.
Touched – I was, a quiet peace that accompanied your presence,
You saw my before and aftermath, never again;
Eight lives I’ve gambled, granted with one – to love, to cherish, to put a smile on others’ faces,
To tell the stories the world ought to hear, and know somewhere, somehow I’ve made a tiny difference.
Stay if you plan to stay, don’t come and go,
The body’s battered, there leaves only the soul.
The former I can play, the latter I keep within,
Bit by bit revealed, through encounters thick and thin.
The recovery path might have seemed easy and nice;
Masked through optimism, character and moments I fantasize;
There have been minutes of frustration, worry and agony,
The fear of losing myself – intelligence, pace and musicality,
The tremble in my veins, not seeing my past wordsmith and ideas surface…
The mind could draw a blank just like that,
I find myself searching my memory banks as though I’ve misplaced the catalogue for them,
Like a confused librarian who has nothing on her hand,
I leave my search to prayers and hope,
While I re-teach myself to think the way I did again.
Filed under: Life's fragile recollections | Tags: audio, ear, hearing, recovery, senses, sound, surgery
Day 22 post-operation.
Imagine waking up to the world and not hearing anything in your right ear. Imagine a side of your head being constantly submerged in water, and all that channels through is a constant high-frequency buzz. It probably sounds fine, one would think, since the other ear remains alert. You would think that I can still hear and I will probably get used to it.
Now imagine having grown up with music, as both ears are trained to listen to the widest range of notes, tonality, harmonies and more.
I entered a world of silence for 21 days. Convinced that my right ear has lost 90% of its hearing, I stopped listening to music, or opted to listen to a selected few with only my left ear. I turn my good ear to others who speak to me, and find myself lost in a drone when I walk out.
Doctor’s visit.
I felt my heart sank at the slightly possibility of not regaining hearing in the right ear forever. All that crashed through my mind were music scores – unplayed – and the piano, its lid closed with a final bang.
Tests showed good news.
Tasked now with daily need to recalibrate the ears to hear sounds from both sides (not just the left), little known nuances about the human body’s abilities to recover from injuries continue to amaze me. I began hearing notes in my head, through the vibrations and nerve endings in my ear. Not the audio, but that distinct separation that the notes are ringing in my head – even on both sides.
So it has begun. Endless music from classical to indie, throw in some radio news in between. Each day the music gets clearer in my head. The great thing about being half deaf is that your voice rings within your head clearer, without the external noises and sounds cutting in. Matching harmonies to acapella renditions became easier – so this is what is it like to hear music in my head.
Filed under: Life's fragile recollections
With 25 staples removed and 2 stitches remaining in the head, I am definitely on the route of recovery. My body has shown an amazing way of patching up after a major surgery, and I am thankful for that.
Doctors have specifically told me not to think about work, don’t stress the brain, and basically not to add pressure to the brain. The disturbing experience of my brain going into overdrive made me wonder if I would be the same person one month later, or will I have changed?
Someone asked me, “You think you would be quitting your job due to its long hours, if you can’t handle it?” That got me thinking instead, What if I can’t measure up to my previous standards anymore? What if I lose the ability to multitask and go through work at the speed and efficiency like I used to? In fact, what if I’m no longer as sharp as before, considering words do not come to mind anymore? Many “What if’s…” hover along the topic of whether my brain will be at a suitable IQ level in future.
While it is common that brain trauma often causes the brain to ‘shut down’ for a while, it became an idle mind for me that I never once thought I had to sit through. The brain goes into a blank whenever I mull too much over a thought, requiring the need for me to sit around with the diary to immediately pen random thoughts down lest I forget them. Writing wasn’t and still isn’t easy – the lack of better words, the need to re-read previous posts to ensure I wasn’t repeating myself, the lost in my sentence flow and more – while reading seems to be the only thing that calms me and eases my brain from an overdrive.
“Overdrive” became a new concept. Thinking too much becomes a problem, because my memory space doesn’t seem to able to entertain more, nor too much details. I can’t seem to think more about a certain topic I read – these have to be stored for future references instead. When someone asks me too many questions, I can’t handle it and literally have to ask them to slow down.
The brain bubbles with many thoughts. I’m glad that I finally have the time to sit and think, something I never allowed for due to the insane schedule I put myself through. But to channel these thoughts into plans, solutions, ideas and more seems impossible (for now).
It might be a case of having to find new ways to reconnect my ideas, and probably revised ways of remembering things. Memory lapses and the need to sit down and think through what I have done and not scares me, but all I can do is to hope and pray that it gets better over time.
Filed under: Life's fragile recollections, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: accident, brain, pain, recovery, stitches, surgery, trauma
For the record, I have no memories of falling off my bicycle. This is similar to a car accident I was in nine years ago, when the left side of my head went into trauma because it was at the point of collision between two cars. One car accident, a trained guard-dog that lunged at me and left a cut in my left eye-lid, a knee operation to repair a torn ligament from a wakeboarding injury, and a brain surgery later – I’ve pretty much chalked up one too many trips to Accident & Emergency units the past 9 years.
I digressed. I flew off the bicycle I was travelling downslope on 12 days ago, after letting the other cyclists fly past me and attempting to slow down. The only thing I remembered – skirting a pothole and wobbling on the bike. I woke up hours later gagging on a breathing pipe stuck down my throat in hospital.
So this was what the rest told me after: I had a gash on the top of my head, some surface wounds on my knees, knuckles, hips and shoulders because I broke my fall with a roll (hence no broken limbs). I was very awake and even checked myself into hospital after the ambulance sent me to Changi General, right down to remembering my phone’s password when others needed to contact my mother.
I even said, “Please don’t tell my mum.” Who would have listened to me then, really?
My boss arrived at the hospital too, thank heavens. An immediate CT scan showed that I had a blood clot in my brain, which didn’t require immediate surgery because it might go away by itself. Alarm bells rang when I was asked what month it was, and I said “February” and I seemed to be falling asleep on the spot. Doctors decided to go ahead with surgery that night.
So, they cut a C out of my skull to drain the blood clot, and supposedly stitched up my head wound. One of the bones in my ear is also dislodged slightly, due to an impact-related minor fracture between my ear bone and the base of my skull. 12 days later I learned that the wound wasn’t stitched up properly by a junior doctor who happened to be on duty that fateful night, so I sat through a re-stitching by another senior (and cuter) doctor.
It has been almost 2 weeks of strange sensations. This morning, the re-stitch was done with local anesthetic, which allowed me to feel the needle and thread going through and the skin of my head being pulled closer together…with no pain. The feeling of having 25 staples pulled of my skull could not be described otherwise because you literally feel the staples leaving your head. Weirdest feelings, ever.
Waking up after an operation to great girlfriends, a concerned boss and his girlfriend, and my panicked mum was great. Although it was a terrible blur now, for my memory is not exactly at its best right now.
Headaches have been part of everyday life. More interestingly, I am medically certified to disengage from stress, annoyances, grief, drama or anything that causes tension build-up in the brain. They get better day by day, except for throbbing sensations, or when the volume of my mum’s voice goes up a notch.
I can’t handle bright lights, loud noises, too many questions, nor turn around too fast. All these become too much for my senses to absorb, and the brain goes into an overdrive.
The right ear’s deaf from its internal fracture and blood clot, but it would heal over time. Once again, balancing on one leg becomes an issue, and I constantly hear a shrill in my right ear – the kind you hear when you are in a room too quiet.
Stretching becomes painful, because muscles tense up in accidents. I must have had taken half the impact on my butt and left shoulder, because the left shoulder and hamstring protest with each movement I make. It brings to memories the nine months my physio and trainers nursed me back from crutches to running and jumping post knee-surgery; it reminds me how amazing the body is, and the strength it moulds in your character.
Filed under: Life's fragile recollections, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: accident, death, hospital, life, recovery, surgery
To begin a new post with such a dramatic headline, I suppose it is uncalled for, but I am incredibly blessed to be sitting at home without any broken limbs now despite surviving a cycling accident. Many cyclists I know have suffered fractures, near-deaths, unfortunate deaths, terrible injuries from being on the road. I too, have joined the community whose members have been burned by the road – most of the time due to an unexpected turn of events that we can’t really say we could have prevented.
So, a downslope journey and an attempt at slowing down caused me to fly over the bicycle, land on my head and break my fall by rolling. I remember none of these, for they were told to me by those who were with me that night. A blood clot formed between my brain and my skull, hence the surgeon at Changi General Hospital that midnight called for a neurosurgery – one to cut open my skull and drain the blood clot – a successful operation that left my head half-shaven, stitched and staples closing a C-shaped scar.
One night in the Intensive Care Unit, another in High Dependency Care, and six nights in a hospital ward to monitor the effects of a post brain-surgery, muscle trauma and zero broken limbs. I thanked God how incredibly lucky I am to be alive, recovering well (save for the damn headaches), and dealing only with two open wounds, a temporary-deaf right ear and a healing head injury.
There were moments that got me frustrated for a second. Having no hair, a deaf ear, and not being able to deal with an overload of questions and problems were some of them.
But walking into my ward and life were the best friends and companions who reminded me that my life I hold so dearly was greatly based on the relationships I have with them. Colleagues, clients, friends from the cycling + outdoor + wakeboard + gym community, primary and secondary schools, some I knew through work but turned great friends came by. Truth be told I never expected so much care and concern from them, but they reminded me how fragile life is, and how much they matter to me.
Traumatic an incident it was, it also created a closer bond between my mum and I. It was a time she fully showed her love for me, and came to accept how much of an adrenaline junkie her only daughter is. It was a good break, for I’ve spent too little time with my mum when I placed work and past-relationships above her.
So here’s a month (or more) of a much-needed break. A time when my head actually tells me, “No, I can’t deal with this. You stop it.”
And every minute’s worth of thanking God, I am still alive. 🙂
Filed under: Rhyme & Riddle, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: 2013, December, dreams, January, new year, resolution, wish
As the decadence of December unwraps its long bony fingers from my throat, I gasp – both from the release of its slow choking grip, and at the first inhalation of January’s crisp (and if I must say, jarring) bitter winds of change.
What a year it has been, and what a ride it seemed. One thing for sure, my brakes certainly weren’t working in 2012.
As the devil on my right shoulder would have it, enough of the year already. His pointed ears and arrow-tipped tail would already be dishing me my next glass of whisky and pulling me to bed to busk in his glory. For each time a person on the surface of this earth makes a new year resolution, it is the devil’s job to have them break it: a symbol of his victory.
So I’ll play the fiddle that strokes his enlarging ego, I’ll jump onto the derailed train that moves at a speed that pleases him;
I’ll whirl around the carousel of champagne, whisky and wine, while he thinks – this lady in cloud nine, ain’t she divine?
—
So I seize the devil by his horns, you think of me: your puppet, and you: my master of indulgence – right and wrong;
I laugh the devil’s laugh as I ride into the sun, his cries of anguish and frustration rise a note with each gallop and bound;
I tease him with his pitch fork as I would tantalize my lover with charm, not the devil’s, not the devil’s charm;
I let the devil sit on my shoulder, if he whispers, I listen, alas my attention long gone.
###
I clutch at my throat, feeling the indents of December’s cold grip. January comes billowing in like Santa’s sleigh up my driveway, with its promises and hopes that the year could bring. Surely, spring would warm my soul and ease away those tendrils of pain. Then summer could set ablaze dreams to plans, turning amber to flames – of fulfillment that tastes so sweet.
I finally get why people love the movies so much, and why they say watching one is like being transported into a realm away from reality. Life of Pi made that transformation for me – in a 120-minute immersive experience with Pi and his incredible tale.
Golden Village’s GVmax at VivoCity screened the 3D version of Life of Pi last Wednesday, featuring their latest installation of the Dolby® Atmos™ sound and speaker system.
When caught up in a stunning visual experience in a film like Life of Pi, the unsung heroes behind the audio effects are normally left behind. I know that all too well, having spent nights in recording studios watching producers perfecting sound, writing about home theatre systems that combine a mix of technology and precise engineering to manufacture an environment that takes its audience away from reality. Many people do not realise how important the presence of sound, and the integral role it plays it creating space, in turn taking us closer to a realistic experience.
I was very impressed with Dolby Atmos, and even more impressed with Doug Hemphill, Ron Bartlett (Re-recording Mixers), Eugene Gerty (Supervising Sound Editor) and the sound crew with Ang Lee. The fact that they created a production track from scratch by collecting sounds from recording on the water, the hollow hull, the animals gave rise to a how “the sound (would) hug the audience”.
Sounds that we used to take for granted – flying fishes over you (from the perspective of a boat), the tiniest splash of water, a hollow tin landing in the water right in front of you – have been well-placed in each of the Dolby speakers to create the feeling of oneself being in the film. Wondered how the storm in the movie felt really huge and threatened to drown you out? That probably came from the overhead ceiling and side speakers as the storm brew and howled around you. Flying fishes that almost slapped your face as they flew by? Sound travelling from right to left speakers through the ceiling ones too.
Complete that with subtle 3D effects that are finally (!) not explosions in your face, but presented in the form of surreal, almost out-of-the-world landscape shots and I was pleasantly surprised to find myself disappointed when the film came to an end, simply because it was a story told and captured so well – in all sensory aspects.
Will I watch it again? In 3D, in Dolby Atmos? Definitely.
Filed under: L.ove, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: advice, lessons, life, philosophy, quotes, thought
I came across a blog post I archived years back, in hopes of living my life by them. As titled, these were advice from a modern-day Dad, and I find it tragically funny that I had to take advice from a digital piece of writing, because I never had the opportunity to get my dose of life’s advice from my dad.
So as humorous as they are at times, they make alot of sense. I have lifted from MetroDad’s post, his 25-liners for his daughter:
(1) When posing for any photos, assume that the only people who will see them are me, your mother, your boss, and the dean of admissions.
(2) Lennon, not McCartney. Keith, not Mick. Page, not Plant.
(3) Life is too short not to order the fries.
(4) Never date a man who is rude to waiters, doesn’t say “bless you” when you sneeze, or won’t offer you his jacket when you’re cold.
(5) Never order drinks that are pink or come with an umbrella in them. Don’t be fancy.
(6) Don’t worry about being popular. The “weird” kids are much more fun and will end up being your most interesting friends. Also, when it comes to friends, you can’t trump quality with quantity. Choose wisely. Who would you call to drive your white Bronco?
(7) Give charitably, generously, and anonymously.
(8) Crocs are for people who have given up on life.
(9) Never cheat. Not on exams, the crossword puzzle, or your boyfriend.
(10) If you love someone, tell them. Don’t hold back.
(11) It may be a small world but it’s a huge planet. Grab every opportunity to see as much of it as you possibly can. Most people don’t.
(12) Keep your eye on the ball and follow through, both in sports and in life.
(13) Speaking of sports, pick a team and stick with them. There are few things more important in life than loyalty. It’s a dying trait currently in short supply. Trust me. I’m a Mets fan.
(14) Never regret staying home alone with a good book.
(15) If you feel the need to reinvent yourself, at least be original. No tattoos unless you’re in the armed forces. No body piercings unless you become a pre-Columbian tribal Aztec. No orange hair unless you join the circus.
(16) Learn from the bad as well as the good. Fall down, make a mess, break something occasionally. And always remember that the story is never over.
(17) Don’t make a scene.
(18) Learn how to entertain yourself. Close the door, crank up the stereo, and dork out. Invent new dance moves. Play the air guitar. Practice your touchdown moves. Too many people are self conscious even when they’re alone. Don’t be one of those people.
(19) While you’re at it, learn how to laugh at yourself.
(20) When you realize that everyone comes from a dysfunctional family, life gets a little easier and you feel a little less crazy. The only normal people are the ones you don’t know very well.
(21) Thank you notes are to be written promptly by hand on personal stationery. E-mails, phone calls and text messages don’t count.
(22) Remember that nice guys do finish first. If you don’t know that, then you don’t know where the finish line is.
(23) Learn to cook one thing really well.
(24) Happiness is not fame, money or power. The key to life is finding your sweet spot.
(25) Take every piece of advice anyone ever gives you with a grain of salt.
———–
Truth be told, a huge part of me feels angry that I was given another sort of advice as life’s lessons – points that I do not agree with because they aren’t in my character to stick to. Another part of me feels sad that I had to discover such common sense advice through my own idle reading, and never having the wonderful privilege to know a role model to live life by.
So on the contrary, below are the life lessons given to me:
(1) A woman’s goal in life is finding a rich man who will love you, care for you so that you never have to work a day in your life.
(2) Happiness is having so much money that you never have to work a day in your life and you can do whatever you please.
(3) Always study hard no matter what, because that’s going to get you a good salary, and a good life.
(4) Always lift the toilet seat up; you don’t want the next person to have her butt wet while taking a piss or dump.
(5) Cook only in the kitchen if it doesn’t make the counter and floor oily, because it is stressful having to clean up.
(6) Always eat from a disposable container with disposable cutlery when you can, to save on washing up after that.
(7) Never work harder than what your scope of work requires you to. People never appreciate what you do anyway.
(8) Bliss is finding the man who is able to provide you and your family with a comfortable life (read: big house, maid, car and holidays)
(9) Don’t play too much sports because men are never gonna love scars on women.
(10) Skincare regime begins from 21 years old, because the Chinese saying: “When you do not burn a joss-stick as offering to the gods regularly, they would not come to your rescue at the last-minute even when you hug them at their legs.”
———
And perhaps, for good measure, here are my personal anecdotes to start with:
(1) Spend time finding out who you are, because once you have discovered and love that, it becomes for others to love you.
(2) Travel whenever you can. Nothing beats chalking a life full of stories to share over a round of beers.
(3) Decide if you will work for passion or for money. The best you can achieve is a balance of both but never more of your preferred choice. The grass is always greener than the other side.
(4) If you realise you are decent-looking enough, use your good looks to your advantage – get people to remember you, make an impression, and most of all, be NICE.
(5) Honesty is the best policy. The more you lie, the more you have to remember to make your stories consistent.
—
There are a great many more…but these are enough to start off with, for now.
Filed under: Beauty & Health, Food, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: 5-day plan, detox, detoxify, lose weight, Optrimax, slim down, weight loss
Detoxing is an ocassional 1-3 days plan I embark on in my years of living insane schedules (ie. work hard play hard exercise harder party decently hard). The great thing about detox is that it doesn’t last very long, it cleanses the body inside out, and you feel pretty good again and ready to start that cycle till the next session.
I was kidding about repeating the cycle. However, I also have to point out that we inevitably fall into the cycle of living it to extreme, and going cold turkey via “detox”.
image from Press Tag
My usual routine was honey-lemon water or green tea throughout the day, fruit juices or fruits for 2 to 3 days. Flushing everything out felt really great, but you would be ready to devour KFC by the end of the 3-day programme. This kinda thing is easy especially after festive occasions such as Christmas, Chinese New Year and Thanksgiving when your body takes in four times the normal amount of turkey, roast, beer and wine.
Plus, I was never really a fan of diets. I believed in eating what I liked and burning it all off through exercise.
However, I reached the point in my life when work took over exercise, and the pleasures of wine and dine are alot easier than hauling myself to the gym. Sure, there was the 50km bike ride I try to clock once a week, yoga once a week but the weight stubbornly clung on.
Until my friend told me about the Optrimax 5-day programme. Or rather, she did not really tell me about it – she asked if I detoxed and I gamely said yeah, and she plonked the detox kit on my desk after sending me an email containing information which I confessed to having no time to look at.
Optrimax 5-day plan: The contents of one meal
The instructions were simple. 5 days worth of meals that come in the form of smoothie shakes, and one after-dinner snack at the end of it all. I picked a week where I was busy running events so that I don’t have time to eat and think about food, figuring it would be a pretty perfect way to get through the week – get busy, get work done, get detoxed.
The Optrimax Guru also tells me what I need to do to prepare, even offering cheat tips just to make me feel better. I have to admit, those almond nuts (as pathetic as eight of them sound), salad, fat-free yogurt helped curb those nom-nom-nom pangs. I’ll leave out the instructions and stuff because all it really matters is, how did I feel?
Day 1: Went through 3 meals, only to discover that I could only eat one damn sng muey (sour plum) at the end of the day? Shake tasted strange, but acceptable. The stress from work certainly did not help, I was depressed, feeling faint and needed Vietnamese coffee – badly.
Day 2: Went through 2 meals before my body suddenly decided it ain’t gonna go through another strange-tasting shake without some proper food. Looked through cheat-sheet and resorted to skinny flat-white. (They said I could drink coffee!) Day felt better. Colleagues did steer clear away from me though, they noticed I was alot grumpier than normal and immediately attributed it to detox.
Day 3: Back in office after two hectic days of running around. Fatigue helps because all I wanted to do is to sit down and not eat, and hammer away at the keyboard. Went through the lot of shakes with coffee in between. (I really needed the coffee). Lots of toilet breaks for me – seems that Optrimax did work its way through my system. Unhappy with sng muey treat at the end of the day though. Optrimax, if you must, please do not call it a treat but stick to your reason why green tea powder and sour plum helps in keeping the weight low. Having a good reason to eat that is way better than rewarding a grumpy person with a sour plum. I would chew the head off someone who says that to me!
Day 4: Out filming again, with mad rush around town. No time to have lunch, not even make a shake. I made it up by having Starbuck’s Green Tea Soy Latte (sorry I cheated 😦 ! ) Came back to office starving and really stressed. Needed a beer but decided against it. Ordered Timbre’s pizzas for the team and my talents and watched them eat…damn.
Now here’s the amazing bit. After 4 days of initially not very enticing smoothie shakes, my palate got used to the taste by Day 4 dinner hour. I got really used to having nothing to munch on, and when I finally played cheat on Day 4, I nibbled one small square of the pizza crust and felt really satisfied after that. I supposed the Green Tea Soy Latte helped loads too. But hey, it’s green tea powder and soy milk, still reasonably healthy, yes?
Back to Day 5: Figured the way to downing those shakes is to have really cold water, squeeze out ALLLLL the fruit punch, shake the Zymes and VG bits in and chug it down. Got through breakfast and dinner, lunch was coffee again because I was feeling really sleepy. Decided to celebrate by joining the night cycling group on their usual Friday night 40km leisure cycle, and realised I was feeling more fatigued than usual, must have been the lack of food and sleep. Left the group halfway and went home to crash hard, dreaming up my next proper meal to come.
image courtesy of KFC Singapore
And recall what I said about post-detox. I really had KFC on post-detox Day 1.
Verdict: The MOTHER of all Detox plans, this one is a challenge both mentally and emotionally. 5 days of having no solid food is bound to get anybody…ANYBODY hungry enough to devour everything in his/her way. To be fair, I did lose 2kg (mostly water) and almost 1cm off my hips. Ate probably half of it back, but appetite’s definitely smaller now. 3 days of this would be enough, though. However, the weight tends to stay off alot longer because you somehow enter a habit of eating less, feeling incredibly satisfied even after a small portion of whatever-food-you-wanted-to-have.
I’d still stick to my insane exercise plans. This definitely works when I’m busy – worth a shot, but you had better keep at it.
Filed under: Food, Globe-Trot, Hit List, Shopping Bag | Tags: Asia, Bangkok, getaway, Greyhound Cafe, holiday, P2 Hotel, shopping, SIam Paragon, street food, Terminal 21, Thailand
So I took the risk of a Groupon deal and signed ourselves up for a 4 day 3 night getaway to Bangkok.
There are many wonderful reasons to travel to Bangkok: (a) it’s a shopping paradise because of the strong currency exchange, (b) it’s pretty easy to get around with improved train systems and relatively cheap taxis, (c) food’s good, (d) and there is a rich mix of traditional arts, craft and culture.
So here’s my Bangkok hit list, from the last trip up. I decided to take an easy (ie. non-adventurous) trip which revolves around cafe hunting, new malls and a good traditional Thai massage.
Street Food: en-route from P2 hotel to Pratanum area
You’ll find these stalls almost everywhere, at a really affordable 20 baht per plate of phad thai, rice etc. The chicken/fish goes for 35 baht (I think) after some negotiation, considering I do not speak Thai at all. Option: wash it down with some local beer.
Grey Hound Cafe, located in Siam Square
Greyhound Cafe has a few branches across Bangkok, and is a particular favourite that I like to return to. They have a comprehensive all-day breakfast menu, great pastas, lovely side dishes and a chill-out vibe to top it all off. Tiny Japanese-inspired wooden chairs and sofas complete the clean, cosmopolitan look while an available wi-fi allows mindless idling and chatting the entire afternoon away.
Must orders are chicken wings, calamari, duck parfait (?) and basically anything with the chef’s hat icon.
You & Mee at Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok
Great beef noodles and every type of noodle in soup. Grand Hyatt is a walking distance from the major shopping malls, and the patisserie next door has everything on 50% discount after 6pm.
New Shopping Mall: Terminal 21
Terminal 21, located just next to Asoke station (and is a 5-minute walk from Bangkok’s famous massage centre – Healthland Spa) is the city’s newest shopping centre to boot. With seven city-themed levels and hundreds of stores and local designer-ware, it works even better when each level can be systematically explored by going round, and round and around. Each level follows the decor of a city (eg. Rome, Tokyo, Beijing etc), sometimes tastefully done – I had to take a picture with a giant Japanese cat – sometimes bordering cheesy. Gentlemen, there is a dedicated level just for you at Level 7.
Supermarkets and chairs I want to bring home
“Domesticated” comes to mind when I trawled the aisles of Siam Paragon’s supermarket. Edgy shotglasses, wooden serving boards, coffee takeaway-cups (comes with the lids), unique tableware were amongst the first few to land themselves into my basket. I returned on the last day to buy a carton of fresh mangoes back…mmmmmmm. Note to self: Check-in a box in future.
Bangkok trippin’ ended just like that, S$376 in 4 days of ambling. I could use such getaways more often.
Filed under: L.ove, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: cousin, family, Love, Malaysia, relatives, visit
“Goodbye cuz, till I see you in Singapore.”
This trip to Kuala Lumpur brought me home, in every sense of the word. It was perfect timing, from coinciding landing times on Thursday with another cousin who flew home from Canada, having clients and friends in KL to play catch-up with, and the start of my break from work.
“Do you remember the times when we used to go to Yom Peng and play? Funny how 20 years later we are sitting here having coffee and talking about what we want in life.”
I spent the entire Thursday with them: we had lunch, went shopping, took ourselves out to this really awesome restorant-under-the-bridge, and spent the night skyping with another aunt, watching TV, talking, and dozing off. It was too short.
“I wish you could spend more nights here,” my aunt said.
I wish I could have planned it better. Mentally making a resolve to return for another weekend, I thought how it took me 20 years to find my way home. Leaving Malaysia for good meant saying goodbye to my closest family members, to my cousins I grew up with. My mum and I made every excuse not to visit although we were just a few hours away. In our pursuit for life, and the potential of gold it holds, we have drifted our ways and kept telling ourselves, next time next time. Till today as we caught up over coffee we realised our hunger for freedom and to taste the world has not hindered us a single bit, but fueled us to become who we are today – him as an Associate Creative Director in his own design firm, his sister in Social Couselling, and me, a consultant in Public Relations.
You are more than welcome to stay with us anytime, you know that.
That was my uncle, a man of few words. When he speaks, his words carry a halo of sincerity that warms you all up inside. I knew I could come back here and feel right at home, as I came this time to seek familiarity that is naturally there for me. True enough, I did. The slight similarities that remind us we are related by blood unfold themselves in the most peculiar ways ever: our late sleeping habits, our need to catch up with social media, our habits we formed since young, and the ease we moved about one another.
Everybody put your hands in the air!
We even party similarly. We never fail to turn heads as three of us lanky legged ones stride the mall or pump our fists in the air in the middle of a music festival. We did not really care, to be honest. One night of beers, food, hoots and laughter brought us closer than ever, for we were young (forever) that night. We would have our partners in our lives, but nothing mattered more than who we are to one another – first cousins.
Ramlee Burger. Universal Studios. Coffee hideouts. Sunway Lagoon all over again.
Hey, how about USA to visit Jennifer next?
So we planned our next trip, just like that.
Filed under: Rhyme & Riddle, Two Cents' Worth | Tags: cruising, cycling, motorbike, poem, rhyme, riding
Summer lovin’
Paradise surfin’
Close the tab, let’s go ridin’
Down the highway we are cruising.
Tonight the wind’s in my hair
Playing, teasing without any care
I close my eyes and feel like I’m up in the air
Let my mind go, wandering, the rest of the world can stare.
Teeny boppin’
Too much acting
Screw the crowd, let’s go ridin’
Into the rising sun we go cruisin’.
The morning chill creeps up without knowing
Caressing, stroking like a lover anticipating
The sun god descends like warm breath on my skin
Smoothing goosebumps and dispelling tingles I’m washed from sin
Then the wind comes playin’ with my hair
Teasing, tangling without any care
This isn’t a time to stop and stare
But perhaps, steal a second, to have my soul shone bare.
Sure as Autumn Flame 