Some eye candy for you, but no chicken for me =(

I'm finally cured! Whatever's been plaguing me these last few days is finally gone and my throat feels absolutely dandy now. I had a fever of 101 F during the weekend, though, and so I spent the better part of Sunday vegging out in front of the TV, watching CNN. I'm a total geekzoid, I know, but hey, if it hadn't been for CNN's The Music Room, then I would have missed their segment on Ben Jelen. Besides the fact that he's not so hard on the eyes (he turned down a modeling contract to start his music career), he's also got a brain (Biology degree from Rutgers) and is seriously talented - he plays the piano, violin, guitar, and has an absolutely lovely voice. He's rather adept with the pen, too, as evidenced by his lyrics. His words are very poetic and tend to evoke feelings of bittersweet nostalgia.

"Isabelle, she treads so lightly, floating in her gypsy dresses,
Even though her words cut deep, I can't deny the truth in them,
On the phone, she talks a lot,
And me, I listen hopelessly,
So directionless, I head into oblivion,
And then I decide to give another random memory,
To remind her of the first time we sang out to the sea,
Oh Isabelle, you always understood me,
Please Isabelle, forgive me now."
-- Falling Down


"The years flash by, today melts to yesterdays memories,
Time's holding us tight,
I'm looking back to remember the days we said we'd never say goodbye,
And now you're gone, my hands melt to yesterday's melodies,
time's pushing along,
still looking back to hold on to the days we said we'd never say goodbye.
I'm dreaming of a world with you, I wish the night was longer
I'm chasing the way we were, I wish that I could catch us.
I'm feeling your hand in mine, I wish I'd held it closer
I know that I'll soon find, I know that she can hear me say..."
--She'll Hear You


Later, I watched Wolf Blitzer and some other CNN senior analysts scrutinize and examine all the Presidential candidates (I'm placing my bets on Kerry). There was also a lot of talk about the cursed Bird Flu that's been tormenting Asia as of late, and so I had a fleeting moment of paranoia where I spent a few seconds worrying whether or not the Bird Flu was the cause of my ailment. =P

So it looks like this Bird Flu thing's gotten pretty big. It's been all over the evening news and local talks shows lately, and everyone's worried that it might become an even graver threat than SARS. Jatujak, which isn't that far away from where I live, and the area around my brother's school have both been labelled as a code-red zone.


As I was walking past KFC yesterday, I noticed that it was completely devoid of even a single customer. Ouch - the poultry industry's really going to suffer from this. Alternatively, most Thais have been turning towards pork instead. Poor Babe and Wilbur.


I'm not very artistic, be it digital or actual art, so please excuse the fact that Babe looks like he has a Hitler-esque mustache when really what I intended for him to have was a sad face.

I'm obviously procrastinating, as usual. Okay, back to my poster presentation I go...




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Gong Xi Fa Cai!

I watched The Last Samurai yesterday afternoon and it was absolutely amazing. Tom Cruise gave an incredible performance and I suppose this means I can't poke fun at his Jerry Maguire "you complete me" line anymore. Darn. He deserves his Golden Globe nomination and he deserves a Golden Globe win even more! Go Tom! Ken Watanabe totally kicked ass, as did the dude that played his son. (Arwen and I think he's kind of hot.)



I had so much fun at the Silly Fools concert, but unfortunately I had to leave after the fifth song because of a Chinese New Year family dinner I had to attend. But it's all good because they'll be back at my Uni on February 2nd for another gig with Blackhead. Yippity yay.


We went to a great restaurant in Yaowarat (Chinatown) for dinner last night. Family dinners with my relatives are always, uh, entertaining. As usual, my aunties were extra boisterous and the ai-yahs were extra plentiful. The only thing that was a little out of the ordinary was the fact that my nieces and nephews were on their best behavior. They kept the clamor to a minimum and the bickering to a fervently whispered hush. Plus, only two glasses were spilled and not a single arm or leg was punched or kicked at. Amazing. Of course, this impeccable decorum was due to the little red envelopes that awaited them. Lucky bastards practically got a schmillion red envelopes this year, while I went home with less $$$ than my youngest nephew, Nong Mann. Ah, another reason why turning 21 plain sucks.


~*~

Peter called on Wednesday to tell me that he's already arrived from Taiwan! Awesome - I haven't seen him since high school graduation and I'm always busy everytime he stops through Bangkok. I definitely have to meet up with him this time around.


Met up with Gug and Siri for dinner on Wednesday evening. Gug and I had a big pizza craving that day, and so we went pizza-hunting through Siam Square. We were going to eat at a pizza place called Holy Pizza since it serves authentic Italian pizza (like Grappino's, there's none of that Pizza Hut crap), and had a pretty funky menu with pizza names like 'Vatican's Pizza' and 'Pizza Yum Yum'. The slogan was pretty chuckle-worthy - "Holy Pizza - the quickest way to heaven" -, the shop looked quaint and cute, and the pizza images had us salivating like Pavlov's dogs. So we threw open the door, stepped inside, and prepared to take a big whiff of some delish pizza scents but were instead greeted with putrid paint and chemical stenches instead. Bleh. We quickly shut the door and continued on with our pizza quest. After much searching, hunting, and seeking, we finally saw our beacon in the night.




Okay, so we ended up succumbing to some Pizza-Hut-crap at Pizza Hut, but ah well, pizza's pizza so long as it has oodles of cheese and can satisfy a strong and urgent pizza craving... which was precisely what Gug and I were suffering from. Since we hadn't had any lunch, we were famished, and so we practically inhaled our Pepperoni Lovers and New Orleans Lovers pizzas when they finally arrived.


Afterward, we headed back to Siri's place and lounged around on the eighth floor where the swimming pool is. The floor where the swimming pool's located connects Siri's condo with the service apartment/hotel building, and so there were some hotel guests swimming around there too.



The girls and I had a grand old time babbling away. The weather was great and the view of the city from up above was dazzling. After we'd been up there for about an hour or so, a big group of farang guys came trooping out of the hotel and plopped their stuff down onto a couple of chairs next to us. They were roaring and bellowing to one another in some obscure and unrecognizable Eastern European language, and were hecka loud. They stripped down to their horrid-looking speedos and started strutting around like they were a couple of super hip Adonises. Ewww. You know that one episode of Malcolm in the Middle where Lois has to body-shave Hal? Yeah, well these very hirsute guys were also in dire need of a body-shave! Blecch.


Anyway, we ignored them and continued on talking. At one point, one of the hairy farang guys suddenly grabbed his towel and started doing this obscenely hideous pelvic wiggle/shake thing in our general direction, and as luck has it, I was the only one who witnessed it because Gug's back was turned to them and Siri was busy talking on the phone. Gah! My eyes, my eyes! We were beginning to feel a little uncomfortable, and so we grabbed our shoes, and as we were putting them on, one of the guys started talking to us.


Pelvic-Wiggling Dude: Brrr. I cold. I borrow yours? (Points to Siri's cardigan lying on one of the chairs.)
Us: (Weak, polite laughter.) Heh. Heh. Um, NO.
Hairy Farang Dude: You let me borrow? Very cold.
Siri: You got your own shirt over there. (Points to his grubby T-shirt lying on the chair next to us.)
Hairy Farang Dude: Not warm enough. (Flashes greasy grin.) You put on for me. (Motions to his own furry, woolly-mammoth-like shoulders.)
Us: (Weak, not-so-polite laughter.)


We grabbed our things, and as we were scurrying towards the elevator, we heard them bellowing some other indiscernible English words at us. Haha, stupid farang idiots. It's guys like them who make the male farang tourists who visit Thailand look bad. Anyway, we had a good laugh over it later on, especially that pelvic-wiggling/shaking dude. But still, man, that was pretty nasty, haha.


~*~

I think I'm coming down with something. My throat feels like it's been scraped raw by sandpaper and I had a slight fever in the afternoon. Gotta go find the Strepsils.




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Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui, here I come...

My mom's leaving for Italy and Spain tomorrow! Man, I'm so jealous - I've always wanted to trek through Florence, Venice, Naples, and Umbria, spending endless days absorbing all the highly celebrated art and beauty. Okay, and the food; can't forget the scrumptious Italian food. I remember talking to Jack and Tip once about our plans to someday go to Italy. We plan to skip the famous Coliseum and Venetian gondola rides and instead head straight for the pasta shops where we'll proceed to wipe the country clean of every last pasta noodle. Ahh, someday.


Anyway, as consolation I managed to procure some lovely Tiramisu from the bakery at the Amari Atrium Hotel yesterday. It was mighty good, yes indeedy.



Italy always makes me think of that chick flick from the nineties - Only You (starring Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr.). It's a typical, run-of-the-mill romantic comedy, but the story's charming, the lines are witty, and the various scenes filmed in Rome, Positano, San Gimignano, and Venice are just amazing. It's very reminiscent of the films that Katherine Hepburn, Rossano Brazzi, and Audrey Hepburn used to star in back in the day - Summertime, Three Coins in the Fountain, and Roman Holiday. Anyone else remember any of these films?


~*~

As promised, I went back to see the little girl at Sri Thanya Hospital that I was telling everyone about the other week. I've discovered that her name is Noy (a rather common Thai nickname which literally means 'little' or 'small') and that she's heaps of fun to be around. We have quite a bit in common - she loves Finding Nemo (as do I), is a big fan of Palmy (as am I), loves to sing (as do I), and also sings rather well (but I regretfully don't, so unfortunately that's where the similarities end).


She likes to talk, and boy, is she a talker! She talked about everything: her favorite TV shows, her favorite ice-cream flavors and why mango ice-cream is better than strawberry ice-cream, her favorite Thai celebs, and why Buttercup is the coolest Powerpuff Girl. She then proceeded to tell me about her various friends at Sri Thanya and all of their respective favorites in terms of TV shows, favorite ice-cream flavors, favorite Thai celebs, and favorite Powerpuff Girls. Wow, once she started talking she didn't want to stop. I asked her if life at Sri Thanya was sabai dee (comfortable), and she gave me an enthused nod and said, Ka, Pi, it's very comfortable and I really like it here. She also loved to give big bear hugs, which I swear would have warmed even the coldest person's heart.


After what I'd learned from Ajahn Ja in terms of her family background, I was really glad that she was enjoying her life there. At least at Sri Thanya she doesn't have anything to fear or cower from and can live out as normal a life as possible. I still don't understand why she can't be sent to an orphanage, though, where she can at least mingle with "normal" kids and maybe be adopted someday by a philanthropic couple/person. Sigh. Whatever the case, I was again reminded of how fortunate I am to have such a great family. We may bicker and squabble occasionally - okay, frequently - but still, I wouldn't trade them for the world.


I've started volunteer work at The Institute of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, located across the street from Ramathibodi Hospital. It's a hospital catered especially towards children and teens who suffer from depression due to all the increasing socio-economic changes here in Thailand. Many of these children come from broken families with parents who are too busy making a living to pay much attention to their children. A large number of the teenage patients are victims of drug abuse, unwanted pregnancies, child abuse, and the teen sex trade, amongst other things. It's so disheartening to see all the cruelty that's been inflicted upon today's youth. I sincerely respect them for their endurance and strength. After hearing a lot of their stories, I now realize that they've got far more fortitude and courage packed into them than your average, everyday adult. And for that I commend them.


~*~

I'm so stoked at the moment because I was talking to Korn and he mentioned that there's going to be a Silly Fools concert at my Uni this Friday. Ahhh, awesome. Silly Fools is one of the few Thai bands who actually rock - like really rock. They wail with reckless abandon, their guitars wail in squealing harmony, and their fans wail with fervent adoration the second the step out on stage. So this Friday should be some hot-wailing fun. Hooo yeah.


These past few weeks have been rather busy and chaotic for me and so I feel kind of drained right now. I have to start hauling major ass for the third annual International Congress of Asian Society of Toxicology (ASIATOX III) that's going to be happening this coming Feb. because, uh, it'll be nice if I actually have something to say if a celebrated professor or scientist from Japan were to inquire about my poster presentation. The first half of the conference will be held here in Bangkok and the second half in Chiang Mai, which means that I'm gonna get to see the pandas!


Chuang Chuang and Lin Hui - Chiang Mai's darlings.

Have a great week everyone!

~*~


Updated @ 21:13

This is a day late, but Happy 25th Birthday to the best artist ever (in my eyes, at least).





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Looking Back At 2003

This is a little late, but after seeing Don's entry on the past year, I thought I'd also take the opportunity to wrap up 2003 in retrospect:

Movies, Concerts, Live Performances:


Spirit of the Dance: This Irish Production blew my socks off when they came cavorting through Bangkok. As a celtophile and Irish fanatic, this only further sparked my urge to someday spend weeks on end trekking through the lush, green valleys, ancient ruins, and musically-fuelled pubs of Ireland.


Return of the King: Cinematic genius at its greatest. Wow.

Finding Nemo: This has got to be the cutest thing to ever hit the big screen. I absolutely loved Dory.

Santana Concert: His licking guitar riffs and latino-influenced beats brought the house down. Too bad Alex Band wasn't there, though.



Jay Chou Concert: AHHHHH. ('Nuff said.)


Malachi Cush Concert: A voice of velvet and a personality full of Irish charm - go Malachi!


GLOBE-TROTTING
Germany: We stayed at the same hotel Marie Antoinette stayed at during her passage through the Black Forest on her way to France to marry King Louis XVI. And yes, it's true, German TV does have free porn. Out of all the countries we visited, my brother liked Germany the most (gee, I wonder why).


Even though it was a little slushy, I was thrilled to see snow again after so many years of tropical weather.
Um, I think Jason had a wedgie.


The views around Lake Titisee were absolutely stunning.
J had fun playing around with the word 'Titisee': "Tit-I-see? Tit-see-I? I-see-tit?"
You get the idea.


A cuckoo clock house.
People actually live in there, which is pretty darn cool.

The Netherlands: Windmills and wooden shoes galore! We bought enough cheese to last us a lifetime and saw the loveliest gardens at the Keukenhof in Lisse. The Dutch countryside, while exceedingly flat, is still very picturesque and tranquil. Very pretty indeed.


Mom, J, cheese lady, me.


My friends don't call me Bigfoot for nothing...


The gardens at the Keukenhof were beautiful!
I wish we'd gone during April instead of March because a lot of the tulips hadn't fully bloomed yet.
Standing at the very top of a windmill and gazing down at the never-ending tulip fields is one of my best memories from this trip.


We befriended a couple hundred dwarves hard at work.
(We couldn't find Snow White, though.)

Belgium: Simple things like eating chocolate-covered waffles while walking down the narrow cobble-stoned streets of Brussels as the melancholy notes of a violinist's aria strained in the background will forever be embedded in my mind. Of course, getting lost in front of the Brussels Stock Exchange and having to bail myself out with my shamefully appalling French is pretty hard to forget as well.


Obligatory touristy pic in front of the Atomium in Brussels.


Le Grande Place was, well, exceptionally grand.
It's a great place to sit back and do a little people-watching.
Gotta be careful of the pickpockets, though.


Gorgeous gothic architecture was abound everywhere.
Spires that seemed to reach for the sky and cantankerous gargoyles that snarled at you made for some interesting photography material.


The infamous Mannekin Pis.
Hehe, cheeky l'il fella.

France: Ooh la la! It's true, most of the Parisian ladies dress up in incredibly posh clothes and most of the guys look like they've just stepped out of modeling magazines. I don't know if it was just me, but everywhere I turned I'd notice couples, couples, and more couples. La cite de l'amour indeed!


I took about a gazillion pics of all the famous Parisian landmarks.
Before the trip, I thought Paris was a tad bit overrated, what with all the movies and such that have been filmed there. But after spending a few days sipping lattes and soaking up the exquisite Parisian city culture, I fell in love.


Entrance to Notre Dame Church.
I tried looking for Quasimodo in his bell tower, but I think he was away for the day.
Ah well, maybe next time.


Lovely architecture could be found at literally every crook and cranny of the city.
It's almost impossible not to take a good picture in Paris.


Boat ride along the Seine River at sunset.
C'est tres purdy, eh?


Cut myself trying to photograph this dood (long story) and so I had a big, ugly gash for the rest of the trip. Bleh.
While Versailles is a breathtaking architectural masterpiece, it is also incredibly extravagant and lavish. With all the poverty during the 1700's, it's no surprise there was a revolution.


More nekkid guys in Dijon, Burgundy and around Le Palais Des Etats De Bourgogne.
I couldn't get enough of the cobble-stoned streets and quaint, little cafes.

Switzerland: The land of watches and chocolate. Mom got her Rolex and was happy for the rest of the trip. I got ten Toblerones and was ecstatic for the rest of the trip. Yurrrrmm. Mind you, I didn't consume all ten Toblerones during the duration of the trip. (I was mighty tempted to, though.)


Famous lion monument in Lucerne - the story behind it is rather tragic.


Classy and cute.


J and I seriously contemplated snatching this baby from the Bucherer building in Lucerne and selling it on Ebay, but our plans were thwarted since we didn't have a ladder.
Then again, there's always next time.

Thailand-Trotting:
Hua Hin: One of my favorite beach destinations in Thailand - it's not that far away from Bangkok and isn't as touristy as Pattaya.


Sunrise in Hua Hin


Sofitel Hotel, which used to be the local train station, is now 13 hectares of paradise.


Couple of monkeys kickin' back and munching on some bananas as they look out to sea.

Thrang: The snorkeling alone was worth the 15-hour drive down south to the very tip of Thailand.





Pattaya: Despite the stupid prostitute-hungry farang guy, I enjoyed getting away from Bangkok for the weekend and delighting in the soothing tranquility of the sea.



Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat): Since I was a child, Korat has always been synonymous with family, relatives, and kin. Our trip this year wasn't any different from previous years, except that there was even more family, distant relatives, and obscure kin present this time. Oddities and quirks aside, I always look forward to meeting up with them.


Ayutthaya: Melancholy grandeur of a bygone era.



Friends & Family:
Met up with old friends whom I haven't seen for ages - Monta, Aparna, Napat, Nick, Akira, Patrick, Alan, Pete, Paul - as well as new friends - Beer, Tim, Toon, Jip, Joy, Jan, Jai, Kang.




Favorite cuz in the whole world got married to an ultra fantastic guy who compliments her beautifully, and vice versa. I couldn't be happier for them.


Met cousin Paul for the first time ever. So he has picky criterion for his future wife and is a little uptight, but hey, he's still family.


Newness of 2003:
Was introduced to the lovely tunes of Joanie Madden and was thus inspired to teach myself how to play the tin whistle with a finger chart and $5 Irish whistle.

Digital Photography - Discovered that it's incredibly addictive; in fact, it should come with a warning or disclaimer.

Talked to a real-life princess and didn't foul up.

Can now drive without being honked at every time I get behind the wheel.

And, of course, how can I forget blogging. (This should come with a warning, too.)




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